A highly efficient noble metal free photocatalytic hydrogen evolution system containing MoP and CdS quantum dots

摘要

We report the construction of a highly efficient noble metal free photocatalytic hydrogen (H-2) evolution system using CdS quantum dots as the light absorber and metallic MoP as the cocatalyst. MoP can be prepared by a facile temperature programmed reduction method and small clusters of MoP nanoparticles sized 10-30 nm were obtained by probe ultrasonication. The effect of synthesis conditions on the electrocatalytic and photocatalytic H-2 evolution activity of MoP was investigated. The highest H-2 evolution rate of 1100 mu mol h(-1) can be achieved by the optimized system under visible light (lambda >= 420 nm), which is comparable to that when Pt was used as the cocatalyst. A high quantum efficiency of 45% is obtained at 460 nm irradiation.