Amorphous NiCoB nanoalloy modified Mn0.05Cd0.95S for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

A low-cost and effective method was crucial to enhance the photocatalytic H2 evolution performance of the catalysts. In this work, the amorphous NiCoB nanoalloy was prepared by simple redox method. Mn0.05Cd0.95S solid solution was modified by the NiCoB nanoalloy as co-catalyst. The catalytic evaluate experiments showed that the maximum H2 evolution activity of the NiCoB/Mn0.05Cd0.95S after five hours of light exposure was 523 μmol, much higher than that of pure Mn0.05Cd0.95S. Enhanced H2 evolution performances of NiCoB/Mn0.05Cd0.95S should be caused to the following aspects. The Zeta potential and TEM results showed that the NiCoB and the Mn0.05Cd0.95S were in close contact. The UV–vis DRS indicated that the composite catalyst had excellent light absorption capacity. The efficient charge separation capability of the composite catalyst were demonstrated by the PL, TRPL and EIS. Obviously, the NiCoB nanoalloy played an important role in the high photocatalytic performance of the NiCoB/Mn0.05Cd0.95S. This work will provide a new reference for the study of photocatalytic H2 evolution of the Mn0.05Cd0.95S solid solution.