Boosting photocatalytic performance of Cd x Zn 1– x S for H 2 production by Mo 2 C MXene with large interlayer distance

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2023-03, Vol.11 (11), p.5851-5863
• Main Authors: Jin, Sen, Wu, Jiabin, Jiang, Jizhou, Wang, Ruige, Zhou, Bingxin, Wang, Libo, Hu, Qianku, Zhou, Aiguo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/D3TA00435J

Here we report a novel heterostructure with ultrahigh photocatalytic performance for H 2 production. The heterostructure consists of Cd x Zn 1− x S solid solution and two dimensional Mo 2 C MXene. The Mo 2 C MXene works as a co-catalyst, which was made from Mo 2 Ga 2 C by etching in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) solution at 160 °C for 24 h. Different from the MXene made by the general method of fluoric acid etching, the Mo 2 C MXene made by this method had ultra large interlayer space (lattice parameter c = 24.5 Å) due to the in situ intercalation of CTA + . Thereafter, the Mo 2 C MXene without a delamination process was used as the substrate to grow Cd 0.8 Zn 0.2 S (CZS) at room temperature, followed by heating in a hydrothermal process to achieve the phase conversion of CZS from sphalerite to wurtzite. The CZS/Mo 2 C photocatalyst (mass ratio of Mo 2 C : CZS = 0.2 : 1) achieves an ultrahigh photocatalytic H 2 production activity of 44.19 mmol g −1 h −1 , surpassing pure CZS by a satisfying factor of ≈2289%. It is higher than that of other MXene-co-catalysts and other noble-metal-free CSZ-based photocatalysts reported to date.