Simultaneous Realization of Enhanced Photoactivity and Promoted Photostability by Multilayered MoS₂ Coating on CdS Nanowire Structure via Compact Coating Methodology

Abstract

CdS has been regarded as a promising photocatalytic water-splitting visible-light photocatalyst, but low catalytic activity and photocorrosion seriously limited its practical application. Here, inspired by core-shell principles, we try to fabricate CdS@MoS₂ core-shell structures by utilizing unstable CdS nanowires as core and multilayered MoS₂ as shell. Multilayered MoS₂ not only serves as a protective shell to preserve CdS but also provides abundant reactive sites and forms a type I junction, giving rise to remarkable hydrogen production activities. The optimum hydrogen production rate based on CdS@MoS₂ core-shell composite reaches 26.14 mmol·h^-1·g^-1, which is about 54 times greater than that of pure CdS and about twice that of CdS nanowires with 1% Pt. Impressively, the presentation of MoS₂ nanosheets can effectively avoid photocorrosion, which resulted in 12 h stable hydrogen production.