Fabrication of H-TiO2/CdS/Cu2-xS Ternary Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Solar-driven photocatalytic water splitting is a promising technology to produce H-2 energy. Herein, we demonstrate the fabrication of a ternary catalyst, H-TiO2/CdS/Cu2-xS, by chemical bath deposition and ion exchange for efficient photocatalytic water splitting, based on hydrogenated TiO2 (H-TiO2) with roughened surface and hollow structures. The as-prepared H-TiO2/CdS/Cu2-xS ternary structure can make use of the full solar spectrum and have a better response to the near infrared region. The tuned bandgap alignments in this ternary heterostructure enable efficient separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, leading to a hydrogen production rate as high as 261.54 mu molg(-1)h(-1) without noble metal as co-catalyst. Meanwhile, a photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 210.63 mu molg(-1)h(-1) can be maintained after five cycles. We believe this fabricated noble metal-free ternary heterostructure catalyst has a great potential in solar energy conversion with improved solar energy absorption and efficient electron-hole separation.