Non-noble metal based nickel phosphate decorated CdS nanorods for persistent and efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion

Abstract

Solar-to-hydrogen conversion is a potential technology to help end our dependency on fossil fuels. The electron cloud structure of metal sulfide is more suitable than oxide for the preparation of photocatalytic materials. However, their low production rate has always been a limiting factor. Precious metal cocatalysts, such as Pt, Pd, Au, and Ru, are often introduced to tackle this problem. But in fact, their high price and scarcity limit their large-scale application in photocatalysis. At the same time, photooxidation corrosion has always been a problem in the application of metal sulfide. In the present study, we loaded cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods with noble metal-free nickel-based cocatalyst at room temperature. The reaction conditions were mild, making the process facile and easy to control. The nickel-based cocatalyst successfully prevented the oxidative photocorrosion of CdS, making the composite material stable for an extended time. The suggested non-noble metal-based cocatalyst had better performance than the traditional Pt cocatalyst. The hydrogen production rate was 58 mmol/g/h at the reaction time of 5 h, and the cumulative hydrogen production was kept up to 35 h with the same evolution rate. Overall, the results were striking to serve a new idea for efficient and persistent photocatalytic hydrogen generation using a non-noble metal-based photocatalyst.