2D transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene-based ternary composites for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and pollutants degradation

Abstract

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Photocatalysis have attracted great attention due to their useful applications for sustainable hydrogen evolution and pollutants degradation. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as MoS2 and WS2 have exhibited great potential as cocatalysts to increase the photo-activity of some semiconductors. By combination with graphene (GR), enhanced cocatalysts of TMD/GR hybrids could be synthesized. GR here can act as a conductive electron channel for the transport of the photogenerated electrons, while the TMDs nanosheets in the hybrids can collect electrons and act as active sites for photocatalytic reactions. This mini review will focus on the application of TMD/GR hybrids as cocatalysts for semiconductors in photocatalytic reactions, by which we hope to provide enriched information of TMD/GR as a platform to develop more efficient photocatalysts for solar energy utilization.