Graphene oxide induced dual cocatalysts formation on manganese sulfide with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production from hydrogen sulfide

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) splitting has been considered as an appealing and sustainable approach to resolve both energy crisis and environment problem. It remains challenging to quest suitable photocatalysts for highly efficient H2S splitting. Herein, a series of graphene oxide (GO)/MnS-Mn3O4 composites were successfully prepared via a mild method. The results demonstrated that the GO plays three roles in enhancing the photocatalytic H2S splitting performance (i) enhancing sunlight response, (ii) promoting electrons transfer, (iii) inducing manganese oxide specie (Mn3O4) in-situ produced for hole trapping. As a result, the GO/MnS-Mn3O4 composites exhibit enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2S splitting activity, which is 6 folds higher than that of bare MnS. Finally, the photocatalytic mechanism is proposed over GO/MnS-Mn3O4 composites. This work provides a facile strategy for fabricating double cocatalyst on metal sulfides to realize improved photocatalytic H2S splitting activity.