Hydrogen production coupled with benzyl alcohol oxidation promoted by PtO-CdS hollow microsphere photocatalysts

Abstract

Simultaneous H2 production and benzyl alcohol oxidation is an effective strategy for fully utilizing photoexcited electrons and holes of the photocatalysts. Herein, PtO are decorated on hollow CdS microspheres to fabricate a coupling photocatalytic system for accelerating H2 generation and selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. The PtO-CdS hollow microspheres have been prepared by a facile hydrothermal method without any template agents. Under simulated sunlight irradiation, the 1 %PtO/CdS exhibited the highest rates of H2 evolution and benzaldehyde production. In addition, the PtO-CdS photoctalyst is stable during five cycles of photocatalytic reaction. Photoelectrochemical analyses coupled with ESR measurement demonstrated that PtO decoration not only promotes the charge separation but also improves the stability of the CdS. It is hoped that this work would provide useful information for the synthesis of CdS nanostructure for target application.