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Assembly of Ultra‐Thin NiO Layer Over Zn 1− x Cd x S for Stable Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Ning Xiaofeng,
Zhen Wenlong,
Zhang Xuqiang,
Lu Gongxuan
Publication year - 2019
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.201802926
Subject(s) - water splitting , photocatalysis , non blocking i/o , visible spectrum , photocatalytic water splitting , catalysis , hydrogen production , hydrogen , materials science , oxygen evolution , chemistry , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , electrochemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , electrode , engineering
Photocatalytic splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen by using visible light is considered to be a clean, green, and renewable route for solar energy conversion and storage. Although the Zn 1− x Cd x S catalysts show comparatively higher activity for photocatalytic hydrogen generation under visible‐light irradiation, they suffer from serious photocorrosion during the photocatalytic reaction. The deposition of a protective layer over the Zn 1− x Cd x S catalysts is believed to be an effective way to inhibit photocorrosion. However, only a few materials exhibit satisfactory catalytic properties for hydrogen evolution as well as a good protection ability. In this work, a new Zn 1− x Cd x S photocatalyst was developed for water splitting under visible‐light illumination by assembling an ultrathin NiO layer over Zn 0.8 Cd 0.2 S through an in situ photodeposition method. The as‐prepared NiO/Zn 0.8 Cd 0.2 S showed significantly higher activity for overall water splitting compared with Pt/Zn 0.8 Cd 0.2 S under the same conditions without photocorrosion. An apparent quantum efficiency of 0.66 % was achieved for hydrogen evolution at 430 nm with an accomplished multicycle stability for up to 12 h without any significant decay. The strong electronic coupling between the NiO layer and Zn 1− x Cd x S also promoted efficient charge separation and migration.