Air-condition process for scalable fabrication of CdS/ZnS 1D/2D heterojunctions toward efficient and stable photocatalytic hydrogen production

摘要

We report the scalable fabrication of CdS/ZnS 1D/2D heterojunctions under ambient air conditions(i.e.,room temperature and atmospheric pressure)in which ZnS nanoparticles are anchored on the surface of CdS nanosheets.The as-formed heterojunctions exhibit a significantly enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 14.02 mmol h^(-1) g^(-1) when irradiated with visible light,which is~10 and 85 times higher than those of pristine CdS nanosheets and CdS nanoparticles,respectively,and superior to most of the CdS-based photocatalysts reported to date.Furthermore,they provide robust photocatalytic performance with demonstratable stability over 58 h,indicating their potential for practical applications.The formation of 1D/2D heterojunctions not only provides improved exposed active sites that respond to illumination but also provides a rapid pathway to generate photogenerated carriers for efficient separation and transfer through the matrix of single-crystalline CdS nanosheets.In addition,first-principles simulations demonstrate that the existence of rich Zn vacancies increases the energy level of the ZnS valence band maximum to construct type-II and Z-scheme mixed heterojunctions,which plays a critical role in suppressing the recombination of carriers with limited photocorrosion of CdS to enhance photocatalytic behavior.