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Updated: Mar 26, 2026
Synthesis and Performance Evaluations of ZnCoS/ZnCdS with Twin Crystal Structure for Multifunctional Redox Photocatalysis in Energy Applications
Published on: July 25, 2025
Cadmium sulfide/graphitic carbon nitride heterostructure nanowire loading with a nickel hydroxide cocatalyst for
Zhiping Yan1, Zijun Sun1, Xiang Liu1
1Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, 230026, China. dupingwu@ustc.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water in a noble-metal-free system has attracted much attention in recent years. Herein we report on the use of core/shell cadmium sulfide/graphitic carbon nitride (CdS/g-C3N4) heterojunction nanorods modified by nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) as a highly efficient photocatalyst for visible light-driven hydrogen production from water. Due to efficient separation of the photoexcited charge carriers in the CdS/g-C3N4 core/shell nanorods and the synergistic effect of Ni(OH)2, the optimal hydrogen evolution rate over Ni(OH)2-CdS/g-C3N4 is 115.18 μmol h(-1) mg(-1) under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm), which is ∼26 times higher than the CdS/g-C3N4 nanorod composite without Ni(OH)2 and ∼7 times better than the 0.5 wt% Pt-CdS/g-C3N4 nanorod composite. The apparent quantum efficiency is ∼16.7% at an excitation of 450 nm. During photocatalysis, no degradation of Ni(OH)2 was observed based on the XPS data, indicating that it is a robust cocatalyst. Moreover, the present photocatalyst showed excellent photocatalytic stability for hydrogen production and the turnover number (TON) reached ∼24,600 over 90 hours.
