Significant Enhancement of Hydrogen Production in MoS2/Cu2ZnSnS4 Nanoparticles

Hydrogen produced from water splitting is a renewable and clean energy source. Great efforts have been paid in searching for inexpensive and highly efficient photocatalysts. Here, significant enhancement of hydrogen production has been achieved by introducing ≈1 mol% of MoS₂ to Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanoparticles. The MoS₂/Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanoparticles showed a hydrogen evolution rate of ≈0.47 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ in the presence of sacrificial agents, which is 7.8 times that of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanoparticles (0.06 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹). In addition, the MoS₂/Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanoparticles exhibited high stability, and only ≈3% of catalytic activity was lost after a long time irradiation (72 h). Microstructure investigation on the MoS₂/Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanoparticles reveals that the intimate contact between the nanostructured MoS₂ and Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanoparticles provides an effective one‐way expressway for photogenerated electrons transferring from the conduction band of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ to MoS₂, thus boosting the lifetime of charge carriers, as well as reducing the recombination rate of electrons and holes.