Peanut-chocolate-ball-inspired construction of the interface engineering between CdS and intergrown Cd: Boosting both the photocatalytic activity and photocorrosion resistance

Abstract

Interface engineering can improve the charge separation efficiency and inhibit photocorrosion is an emerging direction of developing more efficient and cost-effective photocatalytic systems. Herein, we report the sulfur-confined intimate CdS intergrown Cd (CdS/Cd) Ohmic junction (peanut-chocolate-ball like) for high-efficient H2 production with superior anti-photocorrosion ability, which was fabricated from in-situ photoreduction of CdS intergrown Cd2SO4(OH)2 (CdS/Cd2SO4(OH)2) prepared through a facile space-controlled-solvothermal method. The ratios of CdS/Cd can be effectively controlled by tunning that of CdS/Cd2SO4(OH)2 which were prepared by adjusting the volume of reaction liquid and the remaining space of the reactor. Experiments investigations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the CdS intergrown Cd Ohmic junction interfaces (with appropriate content Cd intergrown on CdS (19.54 wt%)) are beneficial in facilitating the transfer of photogenerated electrons by constructing an interfacial electric field and forming sulfur-confined structures for preventing the positive holes (h+) oxidize the CdS. This contributes to a high photocatalytic H2 production activity of 95.40 μmol h−1 (about 32.3 times higher than bare CdS) and possesses outstanding photocatalytic stability over 205 h, much longer than most CdS-based photocatalysts previously reported. The interface engineering design inspired by the structure of peanut-chocolate-ball can greatly promote the future development of catalytic systems for wider application.