Mo₂C as Non‐Noble Metal Co‐Catalyst in Mo₂C/CdS Composite for Enhanced Photocatalytic H₂ Evolution under Visible Light Irradiation

Abstract

Co-catalysts are a major factor to enhance photocatalytic H2 activity; they are mainly composed of expensive noble metals. Here, we reported a new non-noble-metal co-catalyst Mo2 C that efficiently improves the photocatalytic H2 evolution of CdS under visible light irradiation. Mo2 C is prepared by temperature-programmed reaction with molybdenum oxide as precursor, and the Mo2 C/CdS composite is prepared by deposition of CdS on Mo2 C. The optimum composite 2.0 % Mo2 C/CdS shows a high H2 evolution rate of 161 μmol h(-1) , which is ten times higher than that of CdS alone and 2.3 times higher than the optimum for 1.0 % Pt/CdS. Moreover, the Mo2 C/CdS is stable for 50 h. This study presents a new low-cost non-noble-metal co-catalyst as a photocatalyst to achieve highly efficient H2 evolution.