Visible light response and heterostructure of composite CdS@ZnS-ZnO to enhance its photocatalytic activity

In this work, CdS@ZnS-ZnO composites were prepared by the temperature-programmed hydrothermal method combined with the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The composite consisted mainly of cubic phase ZnS, hexagonal phase CdS and hexagonal phase ZnO, and presented a spherical structure with relatively uniform size and shape. There were heterostructures between CdS, ZnS and ZnO in the spherical structure. At the same time, the grain size, specific surface area, average pore diameter and pore volume of the composited material changed significantly, and its light absorption performance in the visible light region was obviously enhanced, and the photocatalytic activity was also greatly improved. Under ultraviolet light, CdS@ZnS-ZnO can degrade simulated pollutants by more than 90% within 20 min. In addition, the results of hydrogen evolution from photolysis of water showed that the ternary composite CdS@ZnS-ZnO had excellent hydrogen evolution capacity compared with pure CdS, ZnS and ZnO, whose hydrogen evolution amount can reach 3647 mu mol g(-1) in 8 h, was 298 times than that of P25. Moreover, it still maintained a high hydrogen evolution capacity after 4 cycles. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.