Ternary-role of NiCo-MOFs for boosting the photocatalytic H2-evolution and long term stability of CdS

CdS is a promising candidate for visible-light-driven photocatalytic H 2 -evolution, but its practical application is still limited by self-photo-corrosion and noble co-catalysts needing. Herein, CdS/NiCo-MOFs (CM) heterojunction was synthesized by an in-situ hydrothermal method , where NiCo-MOFs (BMOFs) acted as platform to inhibit the aggregation of CdS nanoparticles . Furthermore, BMOFs provided dual-reaction sites to improve the photocatalytic H 2 -evolution speed and suppress the photo-corrosion of CdS by taking its Ni-linker as catalytic active sites for water splitting and Co-linker as hole trapping sites to suppress the self-oxidation between S 2− and holes. Therefore, the optimal CM-20% exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic H 2 -evolution rate of 1.810 mmol g −1  h −1 under sunlight irradiation, which is 4.55 times higher than that of CdS. Moreover, CM-20% maintained this high photocatalytic H 2 -evolution rate for 100 h reaction, which for CdS is just 50 h. This research provides insight into designing high-efficiency and photo-stable sulfide-based photocatalyst systems for H 2 -evolution.