Co0.5CuP loaded Cd0.9Co0.1S hollow nanospheres with p-n heterojunction for photocatalytic hydrogen production

The development of efficient and stable composite photocatalysts is crucial for advancing the field of photocatalytic hydrogen production. In this paper, the Co 0.5 CuP/Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S composite photocatalyst was synthesized by the template etching method and the in-situ growth method. The Co 0.5 CuP was tightly anchored on the surface of hollow structure Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S nanospheres. The hydrogen production efficiency of the Co 0.5 CuP/Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S composite photocatalyst was enhanced by adjusting the doping proportion of cobalt and the loading quantity of Co 0.5 CuP. Meanwhile, a p-n heterojunction was formed between Co 0.5 CuP and Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S, which enhanced the separation of photoinduced charge carriers and further boosted the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production. The results showed that the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution efficiency of Co 0.5 CuP/Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S could reach 9.64 mmol·g −1 ·h −1 . In addition, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism of the Co 0.5 CuP/Cd 0.9 Co 0.1 S composite photocatalyst was inferred based on the photoelectrochemical test and density functional theory calculation. This approach pioneers a novel pathway for the preparation of heterojunction photocatalysts by the combination of transition metal phosphide and hollow multi-metal sulfides.