Construction of Z-scheme heterojunction CoS/CdS@g-C3N4 hollow sphere with spatical charge separation for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

[Display omitted] •Novel Z-type CoS/CdS@HCNS heterojunction was successfully constructed.•0D/3D double shell structure photocatalyst formed using unique hollow spherical carbon nitride.•Photoinduced charge is spatially separated along the ternary catalysts to improve the electron transfer.•CoS/CdS@HCNS composites showed excellent performance in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.•CoS/CdS@HCNS composites exhibited good stability and effective separation of electron hole pairs. The design and construction of low-cost and high-performance semiconductor is critical for the large-scale application of hydrogen energy. Hollow spherical carbon nitride (HCNS) is considered as a promising photocatalytic material due to its large inner space and appropriate band gap. Herein, 0D CdS QDs and 0D CoS nanoparticles are coated on HCNS to form a distinct double-shell structure by a facile in-situ preparation process. Based on the unique hierarchical structure, the photoinduced charge is spatially separated along the ternary catalysts to improve the electron transfer and reaction kinetics. The CoS/CdS@HCNS shows the highest H2 generation activity under visible light irradiation (2866 μmol·g−1·h−1), which is 20.2 and 7.9 times higher than that of HCNS (142 μmol·g−1·h−1) and CdS (363 μmol·g−1·h−1), respectively. In addition, the 5%-CoS/CdS@HCNS composite has high stability after 4 cycles of test. It provides a new strategy for exploring and manufacturing 0D/3D photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications.