NiMoP2 co-catalyst modified Cu doped ZnS for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

The design of a low-cost, efficient and durable co-catalyst for hydrogen evolution is of great significance for improving photocatalytic activity. In this work, a NiMoP 2 /Cu-ZnS composite photocatalyst was prepared by in-situ growth of NiMoP 2 on the surface of copper-doped zinc sulfide (Cu-ZnS). The test results showed that the hydrogen production rate of the optimized NiMoP 2 /Cu-ZnS under visible light irradiation was significantly improved. Among them, NiMoP 2 /Cu-ZnS-1 exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity (5.13 mmol·g −1 ·h −1 ), which was 2.47 times that of Cu-ZnS and maintained good stability during the reaction. The improvement of hydrogen production performance of the photocatalyst was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of Cu-ZnS and co-catalyst NiMoP 2 . The ohmic contact formed between Cu-ZnS and NiMoP 2 could improve the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and reduce the overpotential of H 2 evolution. Besides, NiMoP 2 was found to provide the active site for the reduction reaction, and accelerate the transfer efficiency of photogenerated electrons. This strategy opens up a new way for the construction of co-catalyst modified semiconductor materials to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen production rate.