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Functional study on dendritic structure composite catalyst for enhanced visible light photocatalytic hydrogen production

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Abstract

CdS is always regarded as one of the most focused non-noble metal photocatalysts responding to visible light. However, it is difficult to be widely used in the field of photocatalysis because of the rapid recombination of photo-induced carriers. A rational structural design is urgently needed to separate the electron–hole pairs efficiently. Herein, CdS was loaded on NiS nanorod surface to form a dendritic structure CdS/NiS p-n heterojunction for high reactivity of photocatalytic hydrogen production. A maximum hydrogen production rate of 17.1 mmol g−1 h−1 was achieved from 65% CdS/NiS under visible light irradiation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mott–Schottky curve, and several photoelectrochemical tests were applied to study the enhancement mechanism. In conclusion, the photocatalytic activity is enhanced mainly because the p-n heterojunction builds a path for the directional charge transfer induced by the internal electric field, which improves the separation efficiency of photo-induced carriers. This research provides suggestions for the design of efficient hydrogen production photocatalysts.

Graphical abstract

CdS is loaded on NiS nanorod to form a dendritic structure CdS/NiS composite catalyst and showed an excellent hydrogen production rate of 17.1 mmol g−1 h−1 which is attributed to the one-way transmission of the photo-induced electrons through p-n heterojunction. NiS is found to be the reaction site of the photo-oxidation reaction but not of reduction reaction, while CdS is the main source of the photoinduced charge carriers and the place where hydrogen generated.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of this work by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No. 21703180) and the Natural Science Foundation (NSF) of Fujian Province (Grant No. 2021J05193).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Environment, Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Modern Analytical Science and Separation Technology, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou, 363000, China

    Wenwen Yang, Yanhui Zhang & Juan Xu

  2. College of Physical Science and Technology, College of Materials, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Energy, Fujian Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, **amen University, **amen, 361005, China

    Shanshan Xu, De-Yin Wu & Jian-Feng Li

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  1. Wenwen Yang
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Yang, W., Xu, S., Zhang, Y. et al. Functional study on dendritic structure composite catalyst for enhanced visible light photocatalytic hydrogen production. J Mater Sci 57, 15488–15501 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07602-0

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