Carbon nanotube exfoliated porous reduced graphene oxide/CdS- diethylenetriamine heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic H2 production

Abstract

Cadmium sulfide (CdS), as a promising candidate for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE), has been widely studied in recent years. However, the PHE performance of CdS is largely limited by the severe photocorrosion and low quantum efficiency. Herein, we reported multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) exfoliated porous reduced graphene oxide (PRGO)-supported inorganic-organic CdS-diethylenetriamine (DETA) hybrid, and the system is designed and prepared to adjust electronic structure and control photocorrosion property. Irradiated by visible light (λ > 400 nm), this novel PRGO/CdS-DETA system exhibits advanced PHE performance of 10.5 mmol g−1 h−1 and apparent quantum efficiency is 29.5% with enhanced photostability. This result is 13.1, 3.9, 1.5 and 1.3 times higher than CdS nanoparticles, CdS-DETA hybrids, MWCNT/CdS-DETA and RGO/CdS-DETA composites. More importantly, the special connection between PRGO and CdS-DETA facilitates the charge carriers separation and large BET specific surface area (SBET) boost the PHE of CdS-DETA. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation further confirms the high mobility for charge transport route from CdS-DETA to PRGO. The PRGO/CdS-DETA system photocatalyst with high PHE performance may provide a new insight into photocatalytic material design.