High efficiency hydrogen production with visible light layered MgAl-LDH coupled with CoSx

Highlights: • The layered nanostructures MgAl-LDH loaded with CoS_x by hydrothermal method. • Non-semiconductor driven photocatalysts are used in the field of photocatalysts. • The possible mechanism to improve the photocatalytic activity is clarified. The research work of photocatalytic decomposition of water to produce hydrogen is wider and wider. A highly efficient composites photocatalyst was prepared by hydrothermal method. The composite photocatalyst was composed of spherical CoS_x and layered nanosheets of MgAl-LDH. The composite photocatalyst retained the advantage of a wide range of visible light absorption, and can effectively prevent the photocorrosion phenomenon caused by sulfide. The hydrogen production of composite photocatalyst was 262.5 μmol. Compared with MgAl-LDH and CoS_x, there was a significant improvement. The combination of the two accelerated the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, which made the hydrogen production effect of the composite catalyst obvious. To investigate the stability of the composite catalyst, a cycle test was carried out and it showed good stability during the test. According to PL, XPS, XRD, TEM, SEM, UV–Vis DRS and electrochemical characterization, the possible reaction mechanism was proposed. A high performance photocatalyst for hydrogen production with low cost MgAl-LDH combined with CoS_x had been explored, which provided a convenient way for research work.