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Updated: Oct 16, 2025

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Synergistic Promotion Effect of ZnCoS Solid Solution and Co1-S on Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production of the CdS
Junwen Wang1, Tao Song1, Lei Su1
1State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Abstract:
Photocatalytic reactions over effective photocatalysts are attractive to explore clean hydrogen energy from water with the utilization of solar energy. Ternary Co1-S@ZnCoS/CdS (ZCS/CdS) composites are constructed as photocatalysts through the hydrothermal formation of Co1-S and ZnCoS nanoparticles on CdS nanorods. Superior to the binary Co1-S/CdS composite, ZCS/CdS shows the improved photocatalytic activity with a hydrogen production rate of 58.4 mmol·g-1·h-1, which is 31.4 and 2.1 times higher than those of CdS and Co1-S/CdS, respectively. Different from binary Co1-S/CdS, the participation of a small amount of zinc favors the formation of ZnCoS solid solution in ZCS/CdS. A synergistic promotion effect of ZnCoS and Co1-S is confirmed due to tight heterojunctions among Co1-S, ZnCoS, and CdS in ZCS/CdS. The unique heterostructure of ZCS/CdS benefits its enhanced absorption ability of visible light, accelerating the separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and the electron transfer. ZCS/CdS exhibits the strong reduction ability and superior photocatalytic stability due to the role of double Z-scheme electron transfer pathways in the ternary composite. This work provides a suitable way to tune noble metal-free composite photocatalysts for efficient H2 production.

