Preparation of Cu−MoS₂/CdS Composite and Photoelectrocatalysis for Hydrogen Evolution

AbstractTransition metal ion doping is an efficient method to enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of catalytic composite materials. In this study, Cu−MoS2/CdS composite materials are successfully constructed through two‐step solvothermal and liquid exfoliation methods. CdS nanorods are decorated by fewer layers of MoS2doped with Cu2+. The properties of the composites materials, such as microstructure, crystal structure and type, element valence state, and energy band structure, are obtained by XRD, XPS, and TEM. The combination of Cu−MoS2and CdS effectively inhibits the recombination of photo‐generated electrons and holes and improves the photocatalytic properties of the composite materials. The PEC test results show that the Cu−MoS2/CdS composite have a perfect photocurrent density of 77 μA cm−2, which is 12.8 and 2.8 times of those of CdS and MoS2/CdS, respectively. Cu−MoS2/CdS composite has the lowest interfacial resistance and the best interfacial charge transfer capability due to ion doping and the inherent high conductivity of MoS2. At 5 % doping ratio of Cu2+, the photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of Cu−MoS2/CdS reaches 12.78 mmol h−1g−1, which is 60 times of that of CdS.