Ferrous oxalate dehydrate over CdS as Z-scheme photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

In order to improve the activity of hydrogen production of CdS photocatalyst, we developed the Z-scheme heterojunction nanocomposite of FOD/CdS for the first time. Compared with the pure CdS, it showed very strong activity of hydrogen production, whose corresponding photocatalytic activity was greatly improved (about 5.9 times). The highest rate of hydrogen production reached 12.75 mmol h(-1) g(-1). By this way in which coordination polymer FeC(2)O(4)2H(2)O (FOD) was loaded on the surface of CdS, the composite photocatalyst of FOD/CdS was successfully obtained with high stability. In other words, within four cycles, their stability was significantly improved and the inactivation rate of photocatalytic reaction was significantly reduced. Such dramatical increase of photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the existence of Z-scheme heterojunctions structures and smaller resistance of charge transfer while the FOD was loaded in CdS nanorods. Therefore, the efficiency of charge transfer-separation was accelerated by the optimized electronic properties and small transfer resistance between interfaces. Furthermore, the transfer of the oxidation sites through the Z-scheme greatly reduced the light erosion on the surface of CdS and enhanced the efficiency of photocatalytic H-2 production.