Abstract
One way to improve the rate of hydrogen production from water-splitting reactions is by the separation of photogenerated carriers. This separation process can be achieved with narrow bandgap semiconductors. ZnSe has a 2.7 eV bandgap, but its photocatalytic activity is very low due to a high recombination rate of the photogenerated carriers. Therefore, a combination of Bi2S3 and ZnSe may potentially produce a visible-light-active photocatalyst, utilizing bandgap engineering and the p-n junction effect. ZnSe, Bi2S3 and Bi2S3-ZnSe nanocomposites were prepared by a hydrothermal method. Bi2S3 at different weight percentages (3–15 wt%) was decorated with ZnSe nanoparticles. The hydrogen evolution reaction was conducted in the investigation of ZnSe, Bi2S3 and Bi2S3-ZnSe photocatalytic efficiency. The results demonstrate that photocatalytic efficiency was highly affected by the Bi2S3 weight percent. The optimal weight percent for Bi2S3 was 15 wt%, at which the rate of hydrogen evolution was 2600 μmol g−1 h−1 within 240 min in the presence of 1.2 g/L photocatalyst.