Self‐templated fabrication of 2-D dual nanoarchitecture Zn1-xCdxS porous nanosheet and ZnO nanorod for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production

Abstract

Herein, dual nanostructured ZnO nanorod (NR)-Zn1-xCdxS porous nanosheet (PNS) photoanodes were produced on a zinc foil through cation exchange reaction of inorganic–organic hybrid ZnS(en)0.5 nanosheets. ZnS(en)0.5 NS’s photoanodes have been synthesized via a facile solvothermal method followed by a series of cadmium (Cd2+) ion-exchange using various ion-exchange reaction times and temperatures. During Cd2+ ion-exchange, the Zn1-xCdxS PNS and a new type of vertically aligned ZnO NR were subsequently grown on the zinc foil substrate. The different exposed surfaces of the vertically aligned hexagonal ZnO NR and Zn1-xCdxS PNS photoanodes contribute to appropriate morphology, effective light harvesting, and efficient charge separation in ZnO-NR-Zn1-xCdxS PNS160C. The optimum ZnO NR-Zn1-xCdxS PNS160C photoanode contributed the highest photocurrent density of 6.60 mA·cm−2 and hydrogen production of 250.65 μmol·cm−2 at 0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Finally, the charge transfer mechanism in the optimum photoanode is discussed in detail.