Photodeposition of molybdenum sulfide on MTiO3 (M: Ba, Sr) perovskites for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

•Photocatalytic hydrogen production was carried out under visible light with surface-modified perovskites SrTiO3 and BaTiO3.•For the first time, the photocatalytic HER performance of MoSx loading by photodeposition on the surface of SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 perovskites were investigated.•The photocatalytic hydrogen production amount of SrTiO3 loaded with MoSx by photodeposition on its surface increased 18 fold compared to unmodified SrTiO3.•MoSx loaded SrTiO3 showed comparably higher photocatalytic hydrogen production than Pt loaded SrTiO3. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution using by semiconductor materials have been studied effectively by converting solar energy into the chemical energy. Perovskite-based materials have been widely used as semiconductor catalysts for the photocatalytic hydrogen production. Herein, molybdenum sulfide photodeposited onto MTiO3 (M: Ba, Sr) perovskites (MTiO3/MoSx) have been investigated on the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under solar light irradiation in the presence of triethanolamine (TEOA) and eosin Y (EY) as an electron donor and photosensitizer, respectively. Compared to pristine MTiO3, BaTiO3/MoSx and SrTiO3/MoSx show a remarkable improvement in the hydrogen production efficiency and stability. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activities found in the order of SrTiO3/MoSx > BaTiO3/MoSx > MoSx > SrTiO3 > BaTiO3. In addition, photocatalytic hydrogen activity of SrTiO3/Pt was evaluated for comparison with SrTiO3/MoSx under the same conditions and SrTiO3/MoSx produced higher hydrogen activity than SrTiO3/Pt due to the high active sites created by MoSx on the catalyst surface which is originated from Mo–S and SS bonds.