Copper-doped flower-like molybdenum disulfide/bismuth sulfide photocatalysts for enhanced solar water splitting

A facile synthesis approach to fabricate Cu-doped MoS₂/Bi₂S₃ (Cu-MoS₂/Bi₂S₃) photocatalysts is reported. The photocatalyst samples with varying amounts of Cu are applied in the photocatalytic splitting of water to produce H₂ under the irradiation of simulated solar light. The Cu-MoS₂/Bi₂S₃ photocatalysts with an optimum Cu loading of 20 mol% exhibited high photocatalytic performance, achieving a total H₂ yield of 32.4 μmol/h after 6 h of reaction. The photoactivity of the Cu-doped sample was shown to have risen more than 40% than that of pure MoS₂/Bi₂S₃. The improved performance is attributed to the impurity states generated within Cu-doped MoS₂, which serve as trapping sites for photogenerated electrons. The effective charge transfer mechanism achieved was evidenced by photoelectrochemical measurements. Based on the experimental results obtained, a plausible mechanism for the photocatalytic process associated with Cu-MoS₂/Bi₂S₃ was proposed.