Fabrication of direct Z-scheme MoO3/N–MoS2 photocatalyst for synergistically enhanced H2 production

A novel visible-light active MoO3/N–MoS2 heterostructure photocatalyst was fabricated via hydrothermal process. The structure, morphology and optical characteristics were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. The results indicated that loading pf MoO3 and nitrogen doping played main influence role in advancing the morphology and optical characteristics. Upon visible photo-illumination, the MoO3/N–MoS2 sample displayed superior photocatalytic H2-production activity (118 μ mol h−1g−1), which was about four-time higher than that of pure MoS2 (30 μ mol h−1g−1). The enhancement in photocatalytic performance of MoO3/N–MoS2 photocatalyst can be ascribed to the development of direct Z-scheme heterostructure, which promoted the photo-excited electrons/holes transfer and separation. The recycling experiment verified that the MoO3/N–MoS2 photocatalyst had superior cyclic activity and stability, implying promising applications in energy field.