Insight into synergistic effect of Ti3C2 MXene and MoS2 on anti-photocorrosion and photocatalytic of CdS for hydrogen production

Abstract

Facing the increasingly serious issues of energy crisis and environmental pollution, it is vital to develop efficient and durable photocatalysis systems for hydrogen (H₂) production from water splitting. However, for the famous CdS-based systems, the bottleneck of poor efficiency and low stability arisen from photocorrosion has not been broken through yet. In this study, a ternary composite of CdS, MoS₂ and Ti₃C₂ MXene with intimately contact interfaces was successfully constructed via an in situ growth method, which exhibited reinforced photocatalytic H₂-production activity and increased photocorrosion resistant capability. Both of experimental characterizations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations well proved that the photogenerated holes and electrons of CdS timely migrated to Ti₃C₂ and MoS₂, respectively. As a consequence, the optimal sample displayed a high H₂ production rate of 14.88 mmol·h⁻¹·g⁻¹ with a lifetime of up to 78 h, and the component and structure of the composite were kept intact during the photocatalysis reaction. This work highlights the synergistic effect of the Ti₃C₂ MXene and MoS₂ as redox dual cocatalysts on the promoted photocatalytic performance and durability of CdS, which can be anticipated to significantly enhance the commercial availability of CdS and even boost its incorporation into industrial applications.