MOF-mediated fabrication of coralloid Ni2P@CdS for enhanced visible-light hydrogen evolution

Ni2P is an efficient cocatalyst to improve the photoelectric properties of CdS. In consideration of this, we designed a coralloid Ni2P@CdS photocatalyst (C-Ni2P@CdS) via a MOF-mediated tandem pyrolysis strategy for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Benefiting from the unique synergistic effect between coralloid Ni2P and CdS, C-Ni2P@CdS shown a high photocatalytic H-2 production rate of 28 391 mu mol h(-1) g(-1), nearly 11 times higher than CdS. Compared with CdS, the absorption intensity of C-Ni2P@CdS was drastically extended in the visible-light region (lambda > 540 nm). Meanwhile, PL spectra, EPR and photoelectric responsiveness etc. were further employed to study the synergistic effect between Ni2P and CdS. From Density Functional Theory (DFT), strong electronic coupling effect induced electrons to accumulate on adsorbed H2O and the most energetically favorable configuration indicated that Ni-P bridges were the active sites for water dissociation. Lastly, a viable mechanism of C-Ni2P@CdS heterojunction for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution was proposed.

Automated summary

An efficient coralloid Ni2P@CdS photocatalyst was designed using a MOF-mediated tandem pyrolysis strategy to enhance photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, showing a significantly increased H2 production rate and extended absorption in the visible-light region compared to CdS. The synergistic effect between Ni2P and CdS was further studied through various methods, revealing Ni-P bridges as active sites for water dissociation and proposing a viable mechanism for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution at the C-Ni2P@CdS heterojunction.