Photodeposition of amorphous MoSx cocatalyst on TiO2 nanosheets with {001} facets exposed for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Semiconductor-based photocatalytic hydrogen production is a promising approach to convert solar energy to renewable and clean hydrogen energy. However, development of cheap and efficient hydrogen evolution cocatalyst to replace noble metal based cocatalysts remains a challenge. Here, we report a MoSx/TiO2 nanohybrid prepared by a facile photo-assisted deposition method. The amorphous MoSx grows intimately on the single-crystalline TiO2 nanosheet with {001} facets exposed to form a heterojunction, which can not only facilitate the charge separation and transfer, but also provide plenty of active sites for hydrogen evolution reaction owing to abundant unsaturated S atoms on amorphous MoSx. As a result, the MoSx/TiO2 nanohybrid shows a remarkable enhancement in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance in comparison to bare TiO2 nanosheet. The best 0.5%-MoSx/TiO2 nanohybrid exhibits a hydrogen production rate at 1835.7 μmol g−1 h−1 under Xenon light irradiation, which is about 177 times higher than that of bare TiO2 nanosheet. This work paves a way for the design and construction of low-cost and noble-metal-free photocatalysts for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.