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Visible‐Light‐Induced Generation of H 2 by Nanocomposites of Few‐Layer TiS 2 and TaS 2 with CdS Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Gupta Uttam,
Rao Bolla Govinda,
Maitra Urmimala,
Prasad B. E.,
Rao C. N. R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemistry – an asian journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.18
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1861-471X
pISSN - 1861-4728
DOI - 10.1002/asia.201301537
Subject(s) - nanocomposite , exfoliation joint , intercalation (chemistry) , materials science , visible spectrum , layer (electronics) , band gap , nanoparticle , graphene , photochemistry , nuclear chemistry , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , optoelectronics , engineering
Graphene analogues of TaS 2 and TiS 2 (3–4 layers), prepared by Li intercalation followed by exfoliation in water, were characterized. Nanocomposites of CdS with few‐layer TiS 2 and TaS 2 were employed for the visible‐light‐induced H 2 evolution reaction (HER). Benzyl alcohol was used as the sacrificial electron donor, which was oxidized to benzaldehyde during the reaction. Few‐layer TiS 2 is a semiconductor with a band gap of 0.7 eV, and its nanocomposite with CdS showed an activity of 1000 μmol h −1 g −1 . The nanocomposite of few‐layer TaS 2 , in contrast, gave rise to higher activity of 2320 μmol h −1 g −1 , which was attributed to the metallic nature of few‐layer TaS 2 . The amount of hydrogen evolved after 20 and 16 h for the CdS/TiS 2 and CdS/TaS 2 nanocomposites was 14833 and 28132 μmol, respectively, with turnover frequencies of 0.24 and 0.57 h −1 , respectively.