Facile synthesis approach for core-shell TiO2-CdS nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic H2 generation from water

With the ambition to design a cost-effective and highly stable photocatalyst with improved photocatalytic activity towards H-2 generation by water splitting, herein we report a two-step facile synthesis approach for core-shell structure of TiO2-CdS nanocomposites. The synthesized photocatalysts are comprehensively characterized by SEM, XRD, BET, UV-vis DRS, Photoluminescence and XPS to investigate the morphological, crystalline, structural, optical properties and surface analysis. The photocatalytic activity is evaluated by measuring the ability of TiO2-CdS to generate H-2 gas by water splitting in the presence of hole scavengers under simulated solar light at AM 1.5G conditions. Our optimized sample TiO2-CdS (3:2) exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic activity by generating 954 mu mol g(-1) h(-1) of hydrogen which is similar to 1.4 and similar to 1.7 times higher than pure CdS nanoparticles and pure TiO2, respectively. The optimized sample achieved an apparent quantum efficiency of 3.53% along with good stability by generating a similar amount of H-2 for 40 consecutive hours. The enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability of the core-shell TiO2-CdS nanocomposite is attributed to the broader solar spectrum absorption, efficient photo-induced charge separation on the interface of TiO2-CdS due to the formation of heterojunction and high surface area with a large fraction of mesopores.