Combined CdS/In2S3 heterostructures with cocatalyst for boosting carriers separation and photoelectrochemical water splitting

CdS with a nature of serious photocorrosion and poor photogenerated electron-hole pairs separation defects would restrict its further development. Herein, we reported that In2S3 and the cocatalyst NiOOH were modified CdS by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SITAR) and photoassisted electrodeposition method. In this ternary system, the type-II heterojunction constructed by CdS and highly dispersed In2S3 (silar 15 cycles) to greatly improve the efficiency of photogenerated carrier separation, while NiOOH could avoid direct contact between CdS/ In2S3 and electrolyte to protect it from photocorrosion. Concretely, the CdS/15In(2)S(3) showed the photogenerated carrier injection efficiency (eta(inj)) and surface carrier separation efficiency (eta(sep)) achieved 18.4% and 24.6% at 1.23 V vs. RHE, respectively. The CdS/15 In2S3/NiOOH (C/15I/N) demonstrated the photostability decreased only by 30.7% under 1 h illumination. This work reveals a feasible measure for sustainable and effective photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting via fabricating heterojunction with highly dispersed materials on CdS-based surface.

Automated summary

In this study, CdS was modified by In2S3 and NiOOH using SITAR and photoassisted electrodeposition to construct a CdS/In2S3/NiOOH heterojunction, which significantly improved the efficiency of photogenerated carrier separation and protected CdS from photocorrosion.