Efficient water splitting over a hybrid photocatalyst with (002) active facets and heterostructure

A series of P-CdS@P-MWOx (M = Ni, Mn, Co, Zn, Fe, Cu) hybrid photocatalysts was constructed using different transition metal polyoxometalates [SiW11M(H2O)O-39](n-) as precursors via a pyrolysis-phosphidation strategy. Under visible light irradiation (lambda = 420 nm), P-CdS@P-NiWOx shows a good H-2 evolution rate of 418.4 mu mol g(-1) h(-1) and an AQE of 29.9% at 420 nm without adding a sacrificial reagent, which is a nearly 140-fold enhancement over CdS. This study provides a feasible strategy for designing efficient photocatalysts with highly active facets and heterostructure.