Synergistic effect of hierarchical structure and Z-scheme heterojunction constructed by CdS nanoparticles and nanoflower-structured Co9S8 with significantly enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production performance

Hierarchical structure can significantly increase the reactive sites and provide advantages for heterojunction engineering in the field of photocatalysis. However, it is still a great challenge to realize efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production by controlling the band structure and constructing Z-scheme heterojunction system based on the hierarchical photocatalyst. In this paper, a CdS/Co 9 S 8 Z-scheme heterojunction system was prepared by depositing CdS nanoparticles on nanoflower-structured Co 9 S 8 hierarchical photocatalyst, which showed enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production performance. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of the CdS/Co 9 S 8 Z-scheme heterojunction system is 11.60 mmol g −1  h −1 , which is 13.6 and 55.2 times that of CdS and Co 9 S 8 , respectively. The synergistic effect of the hierarchical structure and the Z-scheme heterojunction makes the photogenerated charge carriers quickly and efficiently transfer to the surface of the photocatalyst, which accelerates the photocatalytic hydrogen production process.