Z-scheme electron transfer mechanism of MoS2/CoP heterostructure for simulated solar light induced hydrogen production

Photocatalytic hydrogen production is a potential strategy to convert solar energy into chemical energy. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) semiconductor has been broadly used to synthesize high-efficient photocatalysts because of its superior light response and easy photoexcitation. However, its unstable microstructure and low-crystallinity generally lead to rapid recombination of photo-generated carriers, which severely restrict its performance. Herein, cobalt phosphide (CoP) was selected as cocatalyst to build MoS2/CoP heterostructure by a hydrothermal method. Research demonstrated the formation of Z-scheme electron transfer mechanism in the heterointerface, which effectively suppressed the recombination of photoinduced carriers due to the synergetic effect of internal electric field. Thereby, the optimum enhanced simulated solar light (SSL)-induced HER activity was achieved by the MoS2/CoP composite (76.45 μmol·g−1·h−1), which is ∼3.8 fold-greater of MoS2 (∼20.14 μmol·g−1·h−1) and ∼4.5 fold-greater of CoP NPs (∼16.92 μmol·g−1·h−1). Meanwhile, about 10.08% and 3.36% of apparent quantum yields were achieved at the wavelengths of 350 nm and 500 nm, which also reveals the high-efficiency of this catalyst for hydrogen production. This research provides a simple strategy to construct stable and high-efficient MoS2-based photocatalysts for hydrogen production.