Hierarchical CdS/Ni3S4/Ni2P@C Photocatalyst for Efficient H2 Evolution under Visible-Light Irradiation

Yuchao Yao; Xiaoxi Ni; Dongyan Xu; Xiaojin Li

doi:10.1021/acsami.2c22717

Hierarchical CdS/Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C Photocatalyst for Efficient H₂ Evolution under Visible-Light Irradiation

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Mar 1. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c22717. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yuchao Yao¹, Xiaoxi Ni¹, Dongyan Xu^{1

2}, Xiaojin Li²

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, P. R. China.
² Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, P. R. China.

PMID: 36857514
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c22717

Abstract

Structural and morphological modulations play a crucial role in increasing the surface active sites of semiconductor photocatalysts for visible-light-driven water splitting. To fabricate a novel CdS/Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C heterostructure, we first prepared carbon-encapsulated Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P (Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C) with a high surface area by sequential carbonization and phosphorization of a Ni-metal-organic framework (MOF) precursor. Combined characterization and photoelectrochemical measurement results reveal that the assembly of CdS nanowires and highly porous Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C can enhance the visible-light response capability of the CdS/Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C heterostructure catalyst by reducing the forbidden band gap of CdS. The hydrogen production rate of 21.56 mmol h^-1 g^-1 for CdS/Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C with a Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C mass fraction of 10 wt % was 26 times higher than that of CdS in a photolytic aquatic hydrogen system. A possible mechanism for the photocatalytic enhancement of the Ni₃S₄/Ni₂P@C co-catalyst was systematically investigated and discussed. This research opens a new strategy for constructing ternary heterojunction photocatalysts via MOF precursors.

Keywords: CdS; Ni-MOF; Ni3S4/Ni2P co-catalyst; heterojunction; photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.