Our findings revealed that the composition of the constituents, reaction conditions, and synthetic processes all influence the characteristics and therefore the applications of the resulting biopolymer composites.

Here we report for the first time that the H₂ bubbles generated by photocatalytic water splitting are effective in the layer-by-layer exfoliation of MoS₂ nanocrystals (NCs) into few layers. The as-obtained few layers can be in situ assembled with CdS nanosheets (NSs) into van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) of few-layered MoS₂/CdS NSs which, in turn, are effective in charge separation and transfer, leading to enhanced photocatalytic H₂ production activity. The few-layered MoS₂/CdS vdWHs exhibited a H₂ evolution rate of 140 mmol g_(CdS) ⁻¹ h⁻¹ and achieved an apparent quantum yield of 66% at 420 nm.