Hollow carbon spheres coated with layered MoS2 decorated carbon nitride for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen performance

Carbon nitride, as a nonmetal photocatalyst, has gained extensive attention because of its low cost, simple preparation and good photoresponse characteristics. However, the low separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs hinders its potential application. Herein, Carbon nitride modified by hollow carbon spheres coated with MoS2 (CN/CS@MoS2) was successfully prepared by simple hydrothermal and calcination method. Hollow carbon spheres and MoS2 could acted as electron transporter and reaction active site, respectively. The synergistic effect of the two effectively promoted photogenerated electron-hole separation of carbon nitride and subsequent reduction to H2. Results demonstrated that assembly of g-C3N4 with CS@MoS2 (1.5 wt % loading) showed the most excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 732 μmol g−1 h−1 without noble metal loading, which was significantly superior than that of reported previously literature. Moreover, the CN/CS@MoS2 composite exhibited outstanding catalytic stability. This work provided a fresh approach to the conception of ternary g–C3N4–based photocatalytic material without any noble metal elements. •Carbon nitride modified by hollow carbon spheres coated with MoS2 (CN/CS@MoS2) was firstly prepared by simple method.•Layered MoS2 was tightly coated on the CS surface, effectively increasing the contact area.•The synergistic effect of CS and MoS2 effectively promoted photogenerated electron-hole separation of carbon nitride.•The ternary CN/CS@MoS2 composites showed enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activities compared to CN and CN/CS.