Highly efficient visible-light driven photocatalytic hydrogen production over (MoSe2-RGO)/(Er3+:Y3Al5O12/ZnS)/RuO2 photocatalyst

The use of co-catalysts can observably enhance photocatalytic hydrogen production activity. In this work, a novel visible-light driven photocatalyst, (MoSe 2 -RGO)/(Er 3+ :Y 3 Al 5 O 12 /ZnS)/RuO 2 nanocomposite, is prepared for the first time by loading Er 3+ :Y 3 Al 5 O 12 , MoSe 2 -RGO and RuO 2 on the surface of ZnS nanoparticles. Er 3+ :Y 3 Al 5 O 12 as an effective visible-to-ultraviolet up-conversion luminescence agent can provide the ultraviolet-light to activate wide band-gap ZnS. MoSe 2 -RGO and RuO 2 , acting as conduction band co-catalyst and valence band co-catalyst, respectively, can effectively separate the photo-generated carriers and supply more reactive sites. The activities of the photocatalysts were assessed via photocatalytic hydrogen production in Na 2 S and Na 2 SO 3 aqueous solution under 300 W xenon lamp irradiation. In addition, the visible-light irradiation time and used times of the prepared samples as influence factors on the photocatalytic hydrogen production were also investigated. It was easily found that the prepared (MoSe 2 -RGO)/(Er 3+ :Y 3 Al 5 O 12 /ZnS)/RuO 2 nanocomposite shows fairly high activity in photocatalytic hydrogen production, compared with single ZnS photocatalyst. It was mainly attributed to the excellent up-conversion luminescence property of Er 3+ :Y 3 Al 5 O 12 and the efficient separation of photo-generated electrons and holes caused by MoSe 2 -RGO and RuO 2 . This research may pave an effective way for photocatalytic hydrogen production utilizing solar light.