Near-Infrared-Induced Photothermal Enhanced Photocatalytic H2 Production for 3D/2D Heterojunctions of Snowflake-like CuS/g-C3N4 Nanosheets

The conversion of solar power to hydrogen (H2) energy efficiently encounters some obstacles due to the lack of superior catalysts and efficient catalytic approaches. Herein, three-dimensional/two-dimensional (3D/2D) CuS/g-C3N4 photothermal catalysts were obtained via an easy, one-step hydrothermal method after pyrolysis. The favorable heterojunction interface for H2 production was constructed by snowflake-like CuS embedded in the graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets, leading to the acceleration of charge transfer and separation, decrease of charge transfer distance, and perfect realization of photothermal effects (PTEs) induced by near-infrared (NIR) light. The 3D/2D CuS/g-C3N4 catalyst presents a topmost H2-production rate (1422 μmol h-1 g-1) under dual wavelength (420 + 850 nm) and a moderate H2-production rate under 420 nm, which are 12-fold and 9-fold higher than pure g-C3N4, respectively, owing to a strong action from PTEs induced by NIR. The feasible NIR-enhanced photothermal catalysis is expected to apply in multifarious heat-assisted photocatalysis processes by designing multifunctional composites with super PTE and photocatalytic capacity.