Construction of donor-mediator-receptor heterojunctions: Ni12P5/In(OH)3/CdIn2S4 ternary catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production

As a member of the ternary sulfides, CdIn2S4 is a visible light responded catalyst with a band gap of 2.2–2.6 eV, which is suitable for solar spectrum. In this study, a simple two-step solvothermal method was used to construct Ni12P5/In(OH)3/CdIn2S4 composite catalysts with type-II and Z-scheme heterojunctions, and there was a synergy between the two heterojunctions. The Ni12P5/In(OH)3/CdIn2S4 composite catalyst formed a donor-mediator-acceptor system for photogenerated electrons, which greatly improved the separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers. Moreover, the highest hydrogen production activity achieved by the Ni12P5/In(OH)3/CdIn2S4 composites was 5.75 mmol g−1 h−1, which was 21 times the original CdIn2S4.