Efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen generation from water splitting catalyzed by highly stable CdS@Mo2C–C core–shell nanorods

Abstract

Sunlight-driven water splitting using light-absorbing semiconductor-based materials is an ongoing strategy to overcome the world-wide environmental pollution and energy crisis. The construction of core–shell-type nanostructures by coupling of the earth-abundant hydrogen generation catalyst Mo₂C to the good photoabsorber CdS may be the best combination for photocatalytic hydrogen generation reaction. Thus, in this work, core–shell nanorods consisting of a CdS core and a Mo₂C–C shell have been designed and synthesized for the first time. The as-prepared CdS@Mo₂C–C nanorods display an excellent hydrogen generation rate of 17.24 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ relative to pure CdS, which may result from the unique one-dimensional nanostructure, the strong interfacial interaction between the core and shell materials, as well as the broadened visible-light absorption range. What's more, the existence of C layers in the core–shell nanorods can facilitate transfer of the photogenerated holes to the outer shell of Mo₂C–C, and thus protect the inner CdS from photocorrosion to finally achieve high photostability of the catalyst.