Efficient hydrogen production by composite photocatalyst CdS-ZnS/Zirconium-titanium phosphate (ZTP) under visible light illumination

A novel composite CdS-ZnS/Zirconium-titanium phosphate (ZTP) photocatalyst working under visible light was successfully prepared by a two-step sulfidation procedure. The photocatalytic activity of the cadmium sulfide-zinc sulfide supported composite catalyst was evaluated toward hydrogen energy production in the presence of hole scavenger, sulfide (S2-) and compared with the activity of neat CdS, ZnS, ZTP, CdS-ZnS, CdS/ZTP and ZnS/ZTP without using any co-catalyst. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (Small Angle X-ray diffraction Studies and Broad-Angle X-ray Diffraction studies), N-2 adsorption-desorption, diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy (DRUV-vis), photoluminescence (PL) studies, SEWEDX, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) studies, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) etc. Amongst all the catalysts, 5CdS-ZnS/ZTP showed highest results toward hydrogen production (2142.7 mu mol) with an apparent quantum efficiency of 9.6% under visible light illumination. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.