CoS₂/TiO₂ Nanocomposites for Hydrogen Production under UV Irradiation

Transition metal chalcogenides have intensively focused on photocatalytic hydrogen production for a decade due to their stronger edge and the quantum confinement effect. This work mainly focuses on synthesis and hydrogen production efficiencies of cobalt disulfide (CoS₂)-embedded TiO₂ nanocomposites. Materials are synthesized by using a hydrothermal approach and the hydrogen production efficiencies of pristine CoS₂, TiO₂ nanoparticles and CoS₂/TiO₂ nanocomposites are compared under UV irradiation. A higher amount of hydrogen production (2.55 mmol g^-1) is obtained with 10 wt.% CoS₂/TiO₂ nanocomposite than pristineTiO₂ nanoparticles, whereas no hydrogen production was observed with pristine CoS₂ nanoparticles. This result unveils that the metal dichalcogenide-CoS₂ acts as an effective co-catalyst and nanocrystalline TiO₂ serves as an active site by effectively separating the photogenerated electron-hole pair. This study lays down a new approach for developing transition metal dichalcogenide materials with significant bandgaps that can effectively harness solar energy for hydrogen production.