Enhanced visible light photocatalytic hydrogen production over poly(dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide)-based heterostructures decorated by Earth-abundant layered double hydroxides

Abstract

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have emerged as one of the promising catalyst substitutes to noble metals in photocatalytic water splitting due to their unique optoelectronic properties. Herein, a series of novel PSO@NiFeLDH composites have been designed and synthesized to investigate photocatalytic performance. Various physicochemical techniques characterized their structural, nanomorphological, and optical properties. These results demonstrated the existence of NiFeLDH particles on the surface of PSO and the strong interaction between NiFeLDH and PSO. The photocatalytic performance was much increased in the case of PSO@NiFeLDH as compared to that of Pt-modified PSO because of the synergistic effect between PSO and NiFeLDH. Remarkably, PSO@NiFeLDH-15 exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity with a rate of 52.8 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ at an optimal content without a Pt cocatalyst under visible light irradiation.