Hierarchically Grown Ni–Mo–S Modified 2D CeO2 for High-Efficiency Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Through a simple solvothermal method, the bimetallic sulfide nanomaterial (Ni–Mo–S) was successfully grown on the surface of CeO2 to restrain the severe photogenerated electron–hole recombination of CeO2. The presence of a close contact interface between the 0D metal sulfide particles and the 2D CeO2 sheet is conducive to charge transfer. Meanwhile, the introduction of Ni–Mo–S nanoparticles on 2D CeO2 can accelerate surface electron mobility, which could obviously inhibit the combination of electrons and holes. Also, there are many unsaturation sites of metal sulfide introduced on the surface and low hydrogen evolution overpotential, which can serve as active sites for hydrogen evolution. In addition, the 2D structure of CeO2 can provide a support framework for the 0D Ni–Mo–S particles, thereby greatly reducing the recombination of useful electrons and holes. All of these advantages of photocatalysts discussed above make for the enhancement of photocatalyst catalytic performance, which equal to about 66 times compared with pure CeO2. Besides, a series of research tests were carried out from different angles to support the relevant results and proposed possible reaction mechanisms.