Boosted Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic H2 Production from Water on a Noble-Metal-Free Cd–In–S Photocatalyst

Visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production from H2O is a promising green chemical technology for producing H2 for resolving energy and environmental crises, but it still has problems, including lower efficiency and utilization of noble metal cocatalysts. Herein, we fabricate a noble-metal-free Cd–In–S photocatalyst via loading In2S3 on CdS by a novel room-temperature discharge-based sulfurization process. The Cd–In–S photocatalyst shows enhanced efficiency in visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production from H2O, with the H2 production rate reaching 660.5 μmol h–1, which is 2.5 times higher than that on the noble-metal-based Pt/CdS photocatalyst (263.2 μmol h–1). Moreover, the Cd–In–S photocatalyst has excellent stability, with no decrease in the photocatalytic efficiency after 30 h reaction. The interaction of In2S3 with CdS via In–S bonds at the In2S3–CdS interface enhances visible light absorption, promotes the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, and provides active sites for H2O dissociation, thus increasing the H2 production efficiency on the Cd–In–S photocatalyst. The present work provides a new way to fabricate noble-metal-free photocatalysts for boosting visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 production from H2O.