Linker-Assisted Assembly of Ligand-Bridged CdS/MoS₂ Heterostructures: Tunable Light-Harvesting Properties and Ligand-Dependent Control of Charge-Transfer Dynamics and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

We used linker-assisted assembly (LAA) to tether CdS quantum dots (QDs) to MoS 2 nanosheets via L -cysteine ( cys ) or mercaptoalkanoic acids (MAAs) of varying lengths, yielding ligand-bridged CdS/MoS 2 heterostructures for redox photocatalysis. LAA afforded precise control over the light-harvesting properties of QDs within heterostructures. Photoexcited CdS QDs transferred electrons to molecularly linked MoS 2 nanosheets from both band-edge and trap states; the electron-transfer dynamics was tunable with the properties of bridging ligands. Rate constants of electron transfer, estimated from time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) measurements, ranged from (9.8 ± 3.8) × 10 6 s –1 for the extraction of electrons from trap states within heterostructures incorporating the longest MAAs to >5 × 10 9 s –1 for the extraction of electrons from band-edge or trap states in heterostructures with cys or 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3MPA) linkers. Ultrafast transient absorption measurements revealed that electrons were transferred within 0.5–2 ps or less for CdS- cys -MoS 2 and CdS-3MPA-MoS 2 heterostructures, corresponding to rate constants ≥5 × 10 9 s –1 . Photoinduced CdS-to-MoS 2 electron transfer could be exploited in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) via the reduction of H + to H 2 in concert with the oxidation of lactic acid. CdS- L -MoS 2 -functionalized FTO electrodes promoted HER under oxidative conditions wherein H 2 was evolved at a Pt counter electrode with Faradaic efficiencies of 90% or higher and under reductive conditions wherein H 2 was evolved at the CdS- L -MoS 2 -heterostructure-functionalized working electrode with Faradaic efficiencies of 25–40%. Dispersed CdS- L -MoS 2 heterostructures promoted photocatalytic HER (15.1 μmol h –1 ) under white-light illumination, whereas free cys -capped CdS QDs produced threefold less H 2 and unfunctionalized MoS 2 nanosheets produced no measurable H 2 . Charge separation across the CdS/MoS 2 interface is thus pivotal for redox photocatalysis. Our results reveal that LAA affords tunability of the properties of constituent CdS QDs and MoS 2 nanosheets and precise, programmable, ligand-dependent control over the assembly, interfacial structure, charge-transfer dynamics, and photocatalytic reactivity of CdS- L -MoS 2 heterostructures.