One-pot synthesis of MoS2/CdS nanosphere heterostructures for efficient H2 evolution under visible light irradiation.

Exploration of cost-efficient and high-performance photocatalyst for H 2 evolution by using a facile approach is of great importance. In this manuscript, a facile one-pot method was employed to fabricate MoS 2 /CdS heterostructures with MoS 2 intimately grown on the surface of CdS resulting in the formation of well-defined heterostructures. Screen experiment reveals the optimized photocatalytic H 2 evolution performance of MoS 2 /CdS is far exceeding that of pristine CdS by a factor of more than 162. The outstanding performance can be ascribed to the formation of heterostructures which accelerate charge transportation and separation, and the MoS 2 serving as a cocatalyst for the decrease of H 2 overpotential. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism of the MoS 2 /CdS was carefully investigated, which contributes to the deep understanding of the photocatalytic process and the designation of other low-cost and high-efficient photocatalyst. Image 1 • The MoS 2 /CdS nanoheterostructures were synthesized by using one-pot approach. • The H 2 evolution rate of MoS 2 /CdS is 162 times higher than that of pristine CdS. • The extraordinary performance is attributed to the well-defined heterostructures. • The photocatalytic mechanism was detailedly investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]