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

Abstract

We report the construction of a highly efficient noble metal free photocatalytic hydrogen (H₂) 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 H₂ evolution activity of MoP was investigated. The highest H₂ evolution rate of 1100 μmol h⁻¹ can be achieved by the optimized system under visible light (λ ≥ 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.