Synthesis of 3D porous MoS2/g-C3N4 heterojunction as a high efficiency photocatalyst for boosting H2 evolution activity

Abstract

A novel strategy was applied for the preparation of MoS₂/graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) with porous morphology. These composites demonstrate a greatly enhanced response to visible light, and remarkably enhanced hydrogen evolution performance by photocatalytic water splitting. Compared to pure g-C₃N₄, the bulk doping porous MoS₂/g-C₃N₄ (BPMCN) heterojunction photocatalysts exhibit significantly enhanced H₂ evolution of 1640 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under visible light irradiation. The absorption edge is transfered from 455 nm (g-C₃N₄) to 532 nm (BPMCN-0.7) in the UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. Of course, structural, optical and electronic analyses demonstrate that the highly efficient activity of BPMCN is attributed to the enhanced light harvesting by efficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, and the expansion of the light response range. The present work shows that the formation of 3D heterojunction should be a good strategy to design efficient photocatalysts.