Well-organized migration of electrons for enhanced hydrogen evolution: Integration of 2D MoS2 nanosheets with plasmonic photocatalyst by a facile ultrasonic chemical method

The construction of a plasmonic photocatalyst is an efficient way to suppress detrimental electrons-holes recombination and extend the spectral range of light absorption in semiconductors. However, the facilitation effect in the aspect of electrons-holes separation is great limited as the lack of a driving force compelled the electrons or holes migration to surface catalytic sites makes them flow randomly in semiconductors. In this work, we confirm that the integration of MoS 2 nanosheets formed two dimensional (2D) layered heterojunction with C 3 N 4 with Au-C 3 N 4 plasmonic photocatalyst can further enhance electrons-holes separation through the formation of Au-C 3 N 4 -MoS 2 nanostructure by a facile ultrasonic chemical method . The integrated MoS 2 nanosheets extract the electrons not only from C 3 N 4 due to a building up of 2D layered heterojunction but also from plasmonic Au via a “pipe” played by C 3 N 4 . The electrons “pump” role of the 2D MoS 2 nanosheets makes electrons flow randomly turn into the well-organized migration direction, promoting the electrons-holes more efficient separation and lifetime prolongation. Meanwhile, MoS 2 nanosheets also increase the light absorption of the photocatalyst owing to its inherent strength of the narrower band gap. Enabled by integration of 2D MoS 2 nanosheets, the hydrogen production rate is 2.08 times higher than that of its counterpart Au-C 3 N 4. This work highlights a new window to employ 2D layered heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance.