Controllable growth of MoS2 nanosheets on novel Cu2S snowflakes with high photocatalytic activity

Herein, we, for the first time, report the controllable syntheses of the snowflake-like Cu2S architectures by using a template free, facile hydrothermal route, in which thiourea as the precursor of sulfur and EDA as the solvent. It is surprising that the Cu2S snowflakes show a higher photocatalytic activity than the other samples (Cu2S dendrites and sheets), has been mainly ascribed to its high light absorbance and BET area. Then the MoS2 nanosheets (NSs) are uniformly distributed on the Cu2S snowflake (SF) substrate, the obtained MoS2 NS/Cu2S SF composite manifests high specific surface area (60.512 m2 g−1) and large pore volume (0.148 cm3 g−1), which are favorable for the efficient light capturing together with the rapid transfer of charge carriers. In comparison with the pure Cu2S, the MoS2 NS/Cu2S SF composite exhibits much enhanced activity and long-term stability towards the photocatalytic degradation of organic dye pollutants and hydrogen production. The improved photocatalytic activity could be owed to two aspects, namely the enhanced light trapping and scattering ability benefited from large specific area of unique snowflake-like structural features and improved charge separation activity of heterojunction between MoS2 and Cu2S.