Bimetals Ni–Mo–S-Modified Hollow Cubic Cu2–xS for Visible-Light Photocatalytic H2 Evolution

Photocatalysts with hollow structures have drawn great interest owing to their high specific surface area, which can enhance the photocatalytic performance. Herein, we designed the hollow cubic Cu_2-xS@Ni-Mo-S nanocomposites by vulcanizing from the Cu₂O template and loading the Ni-Mo-S lamellas. The Cu_2-xS@Ni-Mo-S composites greatly improved the photocatalytic hydrogen performance. Among them, Cu_2-xS-NiMo-5 achieved the optimal photocatalytic rate of 1326.07 μmol/g h, which is approximately 3.85 times higher than that of hollow Cu_2-xS (344 μmol/g h) and had good stability for 16 h. The enhanced photocatalytic property was attributed to the metallic behavior of bimetallic Ni-Mo-S lamellas and the LSPR (localized surface plasmon resonance) effect of Cu_2-xS. The bimetallic Ni-Mo-S can effectively capture the photogenerated electrons and quickly transfer-diffuse to produce H₂. Meanwhile, the hollow Cu_2-xS not only provided many more active sites to take part in the reaction but also introduced the LSPR effect to increase the solar utilization. This work provides valuable insights into the synergistic effect of using non-precious metal co-catalysts and the LSPR materials to assist in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.