Metal Mesh and Narrow Band Gap Mn(0.5)Cd(0.5)S Photocatalyst Cooperation for Efficient Hydrogen Production

A novel co-catalyst system under visible-light irradiation was constructed using high-purity metal and alloy mesh and a Mn(0.5)Cd(0.5)S photocatalyst with a narrow band gap (1.91 eV) prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. The hydrogen production rate of Mn(0.5)Cd(0.5)S changed from 2.21 to 6.63 mmol·(g·h)(−1) with the amount of thioacetamide, which was used as the sulphur source. The introduction of Ag, Mo, Ni, Cu, and Cu–Ni alloy meshes efficiently improved the H(2) production rate of the co-catalyst system, especially for the Ni mesh. The improvement can reach an approximately six times greater production, with the highest H(2) production rate being 37.65 mmol·(g·h)(−1). The results showed that some bulk non-noble metal meshes can act as good or better than some noble metal nanoparticles deposited on the main photocatalyst for H(2) evolution due to the promotion of photoinduced electron transfer, increase in redox reaction sites, and prevention of the recombination of carriers.