High-entropy alloy-enhanced ZnCdS nanostructure photocatalysts for hydrogen production

High-entropy alloys (HEA) have been shown to be potential cocatalysts for photocatalysis, but the design of ideal semiconductor/HEA composite photocatalysts is challenging due to the complexity of their composition and the interactions within multi-element systems. To address this issue, PtCuFeNiCo HEA was selected as a cocatalyst, and a ZnCdS/PtCuFeNiCo (abbreviated as ZnCdS/HEA) nanostructured photocatalyst was designed for hydrogen production from water splitting. ZnCdS/HEA was prepared using a simple liquid-phase precipitation method, a template-assisted cation exchange method, and an ultrasound-assisted recombination method. Photocatalytic experiments showed that the hydrogen production activity of ZnCdS/HEA under visible light was 5.99 mmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹, which is 11.7 times that of ZnCdS and significantly higher than that of ZnCdS/Pt. Experiments and density functional theory calculations indicated that ZnCdS/HEA formed a Schottky heterojunction. The performance enhancement was attributed to the synergistic effect between PtCuFeNiCo HEA and ZnCdS, which enhanced light absorption, improved the separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes, as well as provided abundant catalytic active sites and increased surface reaction activity. This study highlights the potential of HEAs and provides theoretical and experimental references for the rational design of efficient semiconductor/HEA composite materials.