Simultaneous enhancements in photoactivity and anti-photocorrosion of Z-scheme Mn0.25Cd0.75S/WO3 for solar water splitting

Rational designs of photocatalysts with high activity and stability in redox reactions have been an imperative requirement for practical applications. Herein, a hetero-structured photocatalyst, namely Mn0.25Cd0.75S/WO3, has been synthesized via an in-situ growth. This hybrid material presents a significantly improvement for hydrogen evolution and stability with respect to the Mn0.25Cd0.75S sample. These improvements can be attributed to the formation of a direct Z-scheme, and this formation has been confirmed by the photoluminescence (PL) detection of hydroxyl radicals trapping and charge flow tracking by photo-deposition of Pt and PbO2 nanoparticles. A few measurements reveal that the charge transfer mechanism of the Z-scheme leads efficiently spatial separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs, and thus to prolong the photogenerated electron lifetime. Moreover, the as-obtained Mn0.25Cd0.75S/WO3 is also attempted for a practical reaction, which conducts photoinduced conversion from benzyl alcohol to H-2 and benzaldehyde. The conversion has been attained 25.91% using this hybrid photocatalysis.