Carbon nanotubes-modified graphitic carbon nitride photocatalysts with synergistic effect of nickel(II) sulfide and molybdenum(II) disulfide co-catalysts for more efficient H2 evolution

This work reports effective photocatalysts which are composed of carbon nitride (CN), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), MoS2 and NiS, for hydrogen evolution aiming at energy crises and environmental pollutions. The morphologies and optical properties of the photocatalysts were carefully characterized and their photocatalytic performance towards water reduction was studied afterwards. MoS2 and NiS exhibit a significant synergistic effect working as co-catalysts. Compared to MoS2/CN nanohybrid, carbon nanotubes and NiS improved the absorption of visible light and the separation of charge carriers effectively. NiS-MoS2/CNTs/CN catalyst exhibits high performance for H2 evolution and the optimized rate is 309.9 μmol·h-1·g-1 with no noble metals under visible light irradiation. The study demonstrates a non-noble metal photocatalyst system for effective generation of hydrogen with low cost.