Synthesis of Phase Junction Cadmium Sulfide Photocatalyst under Sulfur-Rich Solution System for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Photocatalyst with excellent semiconductor properties is the key point to realize the efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE). As a representative binary metal sulfide (BMS) semiconductor, cadmium sulfide (CdS) possesses suitable bandgap of 2.4 eV and negative conduction band potential, which has a great potential to realize efficient visible-light PHE performance. In this work, CdS with unique cubic/hexagonal phase junction is facilely synthesized through a sulfur-rich butyldithiocarbamate acid (BDCA) solution process. The results illustrate that the phase junction can efficiently enhance the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, resulting in an excellent PHE performance. In addition, the sulfur-rich property of BDCA solution leads to the absence of additional sulfur sources during the synthesis of CdS photocatalyst, which greatly simplifies the fabrication process. The optimal PHE rate of the BDCA-synthesized phase junction CdS photocatalyst is 7.294 mmol g(-1) h(-1) and exhibits a favorable photostability. Moreover, density function theory calculations indicated that the apparent redistribution of charge density in the cubic/hexagonal phase junction regions gives a suitable hydrogen adsorption capacity, which is responsible for the enhanced PHE activity.

Automated summary

In this study, CdS photocatalyst with unique cubic/hexagonal phase junction was successfully synthesized through a sulfur-rich butyldithiocarbamate acid solution process. The results showed that the phase junction efficiently enhanced the separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, resulting in improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. Moreover, the sulfur-rich solution simplified the fabrication process by eliminating the need for additional sulfur sources.