Preparation and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of square platform Cu2MoS4/lamellar ZnIn2S4

Abstract

Transition metal sulfides are widely used in visible photocatalysis due to their suitable forbidden band widths. In this work, square platform Cu₂MoS₄/lamellar ZnIn₂S₄ composites were successfully prepared by solvent thermal and self-assembly methods. The crystalline shape, microstructure and optoelectronic properties of the composites were explored by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance experiments. The results show that the absorption of the composite material in the visible region is significantly enhanced compared with that of the pure sample, and the specific surface area reaches 58.39 m² g⁻¹, which is about 3 times that of pure Cu₂MoS₄, providing more reaction adsorption sites. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution experiments show that the best performance was achieved when Cu₂MoS₄ : ZnIn₂S₄ = 4 : 6. Namely, the composite CMS/ZIS-2 exhibited the highest hydrogen evolution performance of 3104.25 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, which was about 434 and 13 times higher than the pure Cu₂MoS₄ and ZnIn₂S₄ photocatalytic performance, respectively. The improved performance is mainly attributed to the loading of lamellar ZnIn₂S₄ on the surface of Cu₂MoS₄, which organically combine to form a heterojunction, enhancing the light absorption in the visible region and suppressing the complexation of photogenerated carriers, thus improving the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution efficiency.