Controlled synthesis of CdS micro/nano leaves with (0001) facets exposed: enhanced photocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Two-dimensional CdS micro/nano leaves have been synthesized via a controlled hydrothermal process. The dimensions of the leaves is in the range of 4-6 mm and the thickness of the leaves is 30-50 nm. The surface of the leaves is smooth and composed of several parallel laminar layers with multi-steps. The SAED and HRTEM images indicated that the surface of the leaves was mainly composed of ( 0001) plane and all the leaves had single-crystallinity. The morphology of the as-prepared products could be controlled by adjusting the concentration of hydrofluoric acid (HF). The effects of HF concentration, reaction temperature and time were investigated. A possible formation mechanism is proposed based on the intrinsic crystal structure and selected adsorption processes. In addition, the as-prepared CdS pinnate leaves showed enhanced photocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation. The efficiency of micro/nano leaves was more than 6 times greater than normal CdS microparticles.

Optimizing the precursor of sulfur source for hydrothermal synthesis of high performance CdS for photocatalytic hydrogen production

“…12,45 Besides, the differences in particle size and the morphology of the prepared CdS may also account for their different absorption features. 53,54 The prepared CdS samples were characterized by SEM and TEM to reveal their morphologies. As shown in Fig.…”

Facile Synthesis of Zn0.5Cd0.5S Ultrathin Nanorods on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution under Visible Light

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Especially, CdS as a typical metal sulfide has been extensively investigated because of its band gap value of 2.4 eV well corresponding to the visible-light absorption. [6][7][8][9][10] However, a highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst should have not only adequate band-edge positions and band gap, but should also feature a large surface-to-volume ratio and a highly efficient charge separation. In addition, the practical application of CdS as a photocatalyst encounters some drawbacks: the aggregation of CdS nanoparticles during the photocatalytic reaction leads to a decrease of the surface area; and the fast recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes results in low photocatalytic efficiency.…”

ZnSe Nanorods as Visible‐Light Absorbers for Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical H2 Evolution in Water

“…Higher performances were reported for CdS with different co‐catalysts such as MoS 2 (96.7 mmol g −1 h −1 , 46.9 % EQE), Ni 2 P (1200 mmol g −1 h −1 , 41 % EQE), and Pt/PdS (29.2 mmol g −1 h −1 , 93 % EQE) . Without a co‐catalyst, up to 41 mmol g −1 h −1 and 2.8 % EQE were reported for CdS, and 239 mmol g −1 h −1 and 65.7 % EQE for Cd x Zn 1− x S. Cd‐free alternatives such as CuInS 2 ‐ZnS, carbon nitride, conjugated polymers, triazine frameworks, and polymer dots generally show much lower activities, although a recently reported NaCl/KCl‐treated carbon nitride/Pt material achieved up to 60 % EQE …”