Abstract
High-throughput production of highly efficient photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution remains a considerable challenge for materials scientists. Here, we produced extremely uniform high-quality graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoplatelets through the electrochemical-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation, out of which we subsequently fabricated MoS2/graphene van der Waals heterostructures. Ultimately, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were deposited into these two-dimensional heterostructures to produce an artificial ZnO/MoS2/graphene nanocomposite. This new composite experimentally exhibited an excellent photocatalytic efficiency in hydrogen evolution under the sunlight illumination ( λ > 400 n m ), owing to the extremely high electron mobilities in graphene nanoplatelets and the significant visible-light absorptions of MoS2. Moreover, due to the synergistic effects in MoS2 and graphene, the lifetime of excited carriers increased dramatically, which considerably improved the photocatalytic efficiency of the ZnO/MoS2/graphene heterostructure. We conclude that the novel artificial heterostructure presented here shows great potential for the high-efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation and the high throughput production of visible-light photocatalysts for industrial applications.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2233 |
| Journal | Materials (Basel, Switzerland) |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 11 2019 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): URF/1/2634 (CRG4), URF/1/2996 (CRG5)
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), under award number: URF/1/2634 (CRG4) and URF/1/2996 (CRG5). This work was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11835008 and 51872250), the State Key Laboratory of Intense Pulsed Radiation Simulation and Effect (Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, SKLIPR1814) and Low Dimensional Materials &Application Technology of Ministry of Education (Xiangtan University, KF20180203).This research received no external funding.