In order to explore new materials capable of producing the new energy hydrogen, co-catalyst CoP was successfully modified Z-scheme hetero-junction CdS@WO3 to achieve efficient splitting of water under visible light. With the lactic acid solution as sacrificial agent, the H-2 production was 736.89 mu mol corresponding the apparent quantum yield of 1.72%, which was 20.2 and 24.5 times than pure CdS and WO3, respectively. The results of XRD, TEM and FESEM characterization showed that the catalyst has obvious micro morphology and high crystallinity. The valence distribution and composition of elements in the catalyst were measured by XPS. UV-vis, PL and electrochemical detection showed that the catalyst has excellent optical and electrical properties such as rapidly photo generated charge transfer efficiency. Not only the energy band structure of the catalyst was calculated and analyzed, simultaneously the charge transfer mechanism and HER mechanism were explored and proposed. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.