The highly improved hydrogen evolution performance of a 0D/0D MoP-modified P-doped Mn0.5Cd0.5S photocatalyst

Abstract

In this paper, we present a MoP/P–Mn_0.5Cd_0.5S photocatalytic material (PMOMCS-Px). A novel catalyst can efficiently split water into hydrogen without precious metals. In the sacrificial agent environment, the HER (hydrogen evolution rate) of PMOMCS-P5 was 4368.25 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ which was 11.4 times greater than the HER of Mn_0.5Cd_0.5S (383.19 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), and its hydrogen production performance was better than that of Pt/Mn_0.5Cd_0.5S (2.0 wt% Pt). Furthermore, the hydrogen evolution performance of PMOMCS-P5 under pure water conditions was also examined, and the HER of PMOMCS-P5 was 209.76 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which was 20.4 times that of Mn_0.5Cd_0.5S (10.29 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹). Its characterization proved that the introduction of the co-catalyst MoP and P doping inhibited the recombination of e⁻ and h⁺, enhanced the reduction capacity, and reduced the hydrogen precipitation reaction overpotential of PMOMCS-Px, thus enhancing the hydrogen production performance of PMOMCS-Px. Therefore, an efficient and economical photocatalyst was prepared.