Planting highly efficient and low-cost Ni-based noble-metal-free active sites on semiconductors is of great significance in the field of photocatalysis. Herein, taking wide visible-light-responsive 2D C3N5 as a model semiconductor, an impressive near-zero-cost 2D S-doped nickel hydroxide (S-Ni(OH)2) is grown on C3N5 ultrafast within 30 min under ambient conditions by facile reaction between extremely low-cost Ni(NO3)2 and Na2S in aqueous solution. The fabricated 2D S-Ni(OH)2-C3N5 hybrid exhibits enhanced photocatalytic performance for both H2 production from water and NO removal for air purification. The H2 production rate on S-Ni(OH)2-C3N5 is ∼7 times higher than that of Ni(OH)2-C3N5 and even slightly higher than that of Pt-C3N5, demonstrating its potential as a candidate for noble metal catalysts like Pt. In particular, an apparent quantum yield (AQY) value of 30.9% at 420 nm for H2 production is reached on 1.0 wt% S-Ni(OH)2-C3N5 due to quick internal charge transfer efficiency. In addition, ∼42% of NO can be purified in a continuous flow reaction system. This work affords a cost-efficient strategy to steer the photocatalytic property of Ni-based catalysts.
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