Abstract
Three-dimensional PANI/CdSNRs-SiO2 hydrogel (CdS NRs-PANI-SiO2) was synthesized by loading polyaniline (PANI) onto the semiconductor CdS nanorods (NRs) surface and loading the binary complex on SiO2 gel. The structure, optical properties, and electrochemical properties of the composite were studied in detail. The hydrogen production amount of CdS NRs-PANI (3%)-SiO2 (20%) increased in comparison with CdS NRs and reached 43.25 mmol/g in 3 h under visible light. The three-dimensional structure of SiO2 hydrogel increased the specific surface area of the catalyst, which was conducive to exposing more active sites of the catalyst. In addition, the conductive polymer PANI coated on CdS NRs played the role of conductive charge and effectively inhibited the photo-corrosion of CdS NRs. In addition, the recovery experiment showed that the recovery rate of the composite catalyst reached 90% and hydrogen production efficiency remained unchanged after five cycles, indicating that the composite catalyst had excellent stability.
Highlights
Since the discovery of titanium dioxide for hydrogen generation through water decomposition by Fujishima in 1972 [1], photocatalytic hydrogen production has opened new possibilities for converting low density solar energy into high energy density hydrogen fuel to solve energy crises [2,3,4,5,6]
Previously our group reported on the core–shell structure based on Ag3PO4 coated with PANI, and the results showed that fabrication of the core–shell structure with conductive polymer was an effective technique for improving the photocatalytic activity and stability of Ag3PO4 [20]
A certain proportion of SiO2 and Cadmium sulfide (CdS) NRs-PANI composite were added into 3 mL NaOH solution (5 mol·L−1) and were dispersed under sonication for 30 min
Summary
Since the discovery of titanium dioxide for hydrogen generation through water decomposition by Fujishima in 1972 [1], photocatalytic hydrogen production has opened new possibilities for converting low density solar energy into high energy density hydrogen fuel to solve energy crises [2,3,4,5,6]. Its nanostructure of NRs has broad application prospects under visible light irradiation due to its special one-dimensional structure with a large aspect ratio and effective charge transfer [11,12,13,14]. It is urgent to develop some strategies for improving the efficiency of charge separation Conductive polymers such as PANI (polyaniline), PPY (polypyrrole), and P3HT (polythiophene) possess excellent electrical conductivity, processability, and stability [17], making them suitable for modifying inorganic semiconductors to develop composite photocatalysts [18,19]. Photocatalysts with three-dimensional (3D) structures attracted much attention because of the large specific surface area, adsorption capacity, exposed active sites, and high stability [23]. SiO2 gel increased the specific surface area of the composite catalyst, which provided more active sites for hydrogen production. The composite hydrogel represented the characteristics of high specific surface area, low cost, and high stability
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