A novel hierarchical Bi2MoO6/Mn0.2Cd0.8S Heterostructured Nanocomposite for Efficient Visible-light hydrogen production

In this work, a series of Mn x Cd 1-x S solid solutions as efficient photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution with visible light response were synthesized via a co-precipitation method firstly. Then, the hierarchical Bi 2 MoO 6 /Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S heterostructured composite was prepared by combining Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite with Bi 2 MoO 6 nanocrystalline through a hydrothermal process. The optimized Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite's photocatalytic activity is more than 3 times of pristine CdS and the prepared Bi 2 MoO 6 /Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S nanocomposites exhibited a significantly improved photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution from water with visible light response comparing with single Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite. The optimized photocatalytic activity of Bi 2 MoO 6 /Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite is around 10 times of pristine CdS. The excellent photocatalytic activity of Bi 2 MoO 6 /Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite might be ascribed to the well-matched energy band structures of the Bi 2 MoO 6 and Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S. Furthermore, the heterojunctions in Bi 2 MoO 6 /Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite might also do some contributions to improve its photocatalytic activities to some extent. A possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. Due to its excellent photocatalytic activity and good stability for hydrogen evolution from water, the obtained hierarchical Bi 2 MoO 6 /Mn 0.2 Cd 0.8 S composite has potential application in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water by using solar power.