Cadmium sulfide (CdS)-based photocatalysts have attracted extensive attention owing to their strong visible light absorption, suitable band energy levels, and excellent electronic charge transportation properties. This review focuses on the recent progress related to the design, modification, and construction of CdS-based photocatalysts with excellent photocatalytic H 2 evolution performances. First, the basic concepts and mechanisms of photocatalytic H 2 evolution are briefly introduced. Thereafter, the fundamental properties, important advancements, and bottlenecks of CdS in photocatalytic H 2 generation are presented in detail to provide an overview of the potential of this material. Subsequently, various modification strategies adopted for CdS-based photocatalysts to yield solar H 2 are discussed, among which the effective approaches aim at generating more charge carriers, promoting efficient charge separation, boosting interfacial charge transfer, accelerating charge utilization, and suppressing charge-induced self-photocorrosion. The critical factors governing the performance of the photocatalyst and the feasibility of each modification strategy toward shaping future research directions are comprehensively discussed with examples. Finally, the prospects and challenges encountered in developing nanostructured CdS and CdS-based nanocomposites in photocatalytic H 2 evolution are presented.
Efficient H2O splitting for H2 evolution over the semiconductor photocatalyst is a crucial strategy in the field of energy and environment. Herein, cocatalyst‐free 2D–2D CdS/g‐C3N4 step‐scheme (S‐scheme) heterojunction photocatalysts are fabricated through in situ hydrothermal growth of 2D CdS nanosheets (NSs) on 2D g‐C3N4 NSs. The results clearly confirm that the binary CdS/0.7g‐C3N4 S‐scheme heterojunction shows the best H2 production rate (15.3 mmol g−1 h−1) without using any cocatalyst, which is 3.83 times and 3060 times higher than those of pure CdS and g‐C3N4, respectively. The apparent efficiency of CdS/0.7g‐C3N4 at 420 nm is 6.86%. Importantly, the as‐prepared CdS/0.7g‐C3N4 S‐scheme heterojunction has good stability when continuously irradiated for 21 h. The improved stability and activity are attributed to the formation of the S‐scheme heterojunction, which can markedly accelerate the interfacial charge separation for surface reaction. It is expected that the design of robust cocatalyst‐free CdS/g‐C3N4 2D–2D S‐scheme heterojunction can become a promising approach to develop the highly active H2 evolution systems based on various kinds of conventional semiconductor NSs.
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