Inhibition of photocorrosion of CdS via assembling with thin film TiO2 and removing formed oxygen by artificial gill for visible light overall water splitting

CdS is a well-known and important visible-light responsive photocatalyst for overall water splitting. However, the serious photocorrosion property limits its application in photocatalysis. Through modification TiO2 thin film over CdS surface, TiO2/CdS photocatalyst exhibited an obviously enhanced photocatalytic stability. The H2 evolution rate (3.074 mu mol h(-1) g(-1)) of modified Pt-TiO2/CdS under visible light toward overall water splitting was almost 6 times higher than that of CdS sample (0.534 pimol h(-1) g(-1)). The application of artificial gill in photocatalytic overall water splitting system removed the newly formed oxygen from catalyst surface mainly inhibiting the hydrogen and oxygen back recombination to water and preventing the oxygen led oxidation or photocorrosion. By these two strategies, we fulfilled visible light induced overall water splitting in CdS dispersion and achieved satisfied stability during reaction. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.