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Enhanced Visible‐Light Hydrogen‐Production Activity of Copper‐Modified Zn x Cd 1− x S
Author(s) -
Zhang Jun,
Xu Quanlong,
Qiao Shi Zhang,
Yu Jiaguo
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201300409
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , copper , coprecipitation , hydrogen production , catalysis , materials science , surface modification , electron transfer , chemistry , chemical engineering , inorganic chemistry , photochemistry , metallurgy , engineering , biochemistry
Copper modification is an efficient way to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZnS‐based materials; however, the mechanisms of Cu 2+ surface and bulk modifications for improving the activity are quite different. In this work, two different synthetic pathways were devised to prepare surface and bulk Cu 2+ ‐modified Zn x Cd 1− x S photocatalysts through cation‐exchange and coprecipitation methods, respectively. Different Cu 2+ modifications brought different effects on the phase structure, morphology, surface area, optical property, as well as the photocatalytic H 2 ‐production activity of the final products. The optimized Cu 2+ ‐surface‐modified Zn x Cd 1− x S photocatalyst has a high H 2 ‐production rate of 4638.5 μmol h −1 g −1 and an apparent quantum efficiency of 20.9 % at 420 nm, exceeding that of Cu 2+ ‐bulk‐modified catalyst at the same copper content. Cu 2+ surface modification not only brings a new electron‐transferring pathway (interfacial charge transfer), but also produces new surface active sites for H 2 evolution, reducing the recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers.