CdS nanorods decorated with ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets for efficient visible-light photocatalytic H2 production

A binary composite photocatalyst MoS2/CdS was synthesized by a modified solvothermal method. The composites show higher photogenerated electron transfer rate and stronger photocatalytic performance. The structure and morphology were characterized by different methods. It was found that the composites consist of by core–shell structure. And the MoS2 nanosheets are ultrathin and exposed to a large number of edge positions, which is beneficial to improve carrier transport efficiency. Further findings show that the more reactive sites are on the nannosheets, the more hydrogen will be produced. UV–Vis, PL and transient photocurrent analysis showed that the catalyst effectively inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Hydrogen production experiment indicates the best photocatalytic performance appears when the loading of MoS2 is 8wt%, and the rate of hydrogen production is about 5200 μmol g−1 h−1.