Ultrathin Ni(II)-based coordination polymer nanosheets as a co-catalyst for promoting photocatalytic H₂-production

Ni(II) coordination polymer nanosheets (Ni-CPNS) were prepared via a top-down liquid ultrasonication exfoliation method. For the first time, Ni-CPNS was used as a co-catalyst (Ni-CPNS@CdS) via a mechanical grinding strategy. The optimized Ni-CPNS@CdS catalyst reached a super high visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of 10 210 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, exceeding that of bare CdS nanoparticles by 1480%. Our work can open new avenues towards the design of stable and cheap CPNS co-catalysts to replace expensive and rare noble metals for photocatalysis processes.