Preparation of Mn0.8Cd0.2S/NiCo2S4 Z-scheme heterojunction composite for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

The construction of heterojunction is an effective and controllable method to improve the photocatalytic decomposition of water to produce hydrogen by semiconductor photocatalyst. In this paper, NiCo2S4 yolk-shell nanospheres and Mn0.8Cd0.2S nanoparticles were synthesised by solvothermal and hydrothermal methods, and then Mn0.8Cd0.2S nanoparticles were loaded onto the surface of NiCo2S4 to form a dense Z-scheme heterojunction. Without precious metals as cocatalysts, the maximum hydrogen production of the optimized Mn0.8Cd0.2S/NiCo2S4 reached 21.41 mmol·g−1·h−1. The morphology, structure and optical properties of the prepared samples were characterized, and the experimental results and theoretical calculations showed that Mn0.8Cd0.2S/NiCo2S4 with Z-scheme heterojunction could improve the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production by effectively transferring and separating the photogenerated electrons and holes.