Construction of novel and noble-metal-free WC/CdIn2S4 Schottky heterojunction photocatalyst for efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution

Background The study of efficient photocatalysts for photocatalytic H2 production has been a research hotspot. Methods Here, we report a noble-metal-free WC/CdIn2S4 Schottky heterojunction photocatalyst for photocatalytic H2 production. The morphology results manifest that the CdIn2S4 nanoparticles are closely accumulated on the bulk WC. Photoluminescence and electrochemistry tests demonstrate that the carrier separation efficiency of WC/CdIn2S4 photocatalyst is vastly improved. WC cocatalyst provides sufficient H2 evolution active site and reduces H2 evolution overpotential for WC/CdIn2S4 composite. Significant findings The optimal WC/CdIn2S4 composites have a H2 evolution activity of 220.6 μmol g−1 h−1, which is around 1.3 times that of CIS/Pt. Besides, the mechanism of significantly increased photocatalytic H2 production for WC/CdIn2S4 composites is proposed and further discussed. This work not only proves that WC has great potential in photocatalytic H2 production, but also provides a strategy for constructing high-efficiency and noble-metal-free WC-based heterojunction photocatalysts for the enhancement of H2 evolution activity.