Core-shell structure of sulphur vacancies-CdS@CuS: Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation activity based on photoinduced interfacial charge transfer

Junlan Guo; Yinghua Liang; Li Liu; Jinshan Hu; Huan Wang; Weijia An; Wenquan Cui

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.013

Core-shell structure of sulphur vacancies-CdS@CuS: Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation activity based on photoinduced interfacial charge transfer

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Oct 15:600:138-149. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.013. Epub 2021 May 6.

Authors

Junlan Guo¹, Yinghua Liang², Li Liu³, Jinshan Hu³, Huan Wang³, Weijia An³, Wenquan Cui⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, PR China.
² School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, PR China; College of Chemical Engineering, Hebei Key Laboratory for Environment Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei 063210, PR China. Electronic address: liangyh@ncst.edu.cn.
³ College of Chemical Engineering, Hebei Key Laboratory for Environment Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei 063210, PR China.
⁴ College of Chemical Engineering, Hebei Key Laboratory for Environment Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei 063210, PR China. Electronic address: wqcui@ncst.edu.cn.

PMID: 34010771
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.013

Abstract

To regulate the charge flow of the photocatalyst in photocatalytic hydrogen reactions is highly desirable. In this study, a highly efficient sulphur vacancies-CdS@CuS core-shell heterostructure photocatalyst (denoted CdS-SV@CuS) was developed through the surface modification of CdS-sulphur vacancies (SV) nanoparticles by CuS based on photoinduced interfacial charge transfer (IFCT). This novel photocatalyst with modulated charge transfer was prepared by hydrothermal treatment and subsequent cation-exchange reactions. The SV confined in CdS and the IFCT facilitate the charge carrier's efficient spatial separation. The optimized CdS-SV@CuS(5%) catalyst exhibited a remarkably higher H₂ production rate of 1654.53 μmol/g/h, approximately 6.7 and 4.0 times higher than those of pure CdS and CdS-SV, respectively. The high photocatalytic performance is attributed to the rapid charge separation, caused by the intimate interactions between CdS-SV and CuS in the core-shell heterostructure. This is the first time that a straightforward method is adopted to construct a metal sulphide core-shell structure for superior H₂-production activity by IFCT.

Keywords: CdS; Core–shell; CuS; Interfacial charge transfer; Photocatalytic H(2) production.