Ultrathin Ni(OH)2 nanosheets: a new strategy for cocatalyst design on CdS surfaces for photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Liqun Mao; Qianqian Ba; Xinjia Jia; Shuang Liu; Heng Liu; Jing Zhang; Xiying Li; Wei Chen

doi:10.1039/c8ra07307d

Ultrathin Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets: a new strategy for cocatalyst design on CdS surfaces for photocatalytic hydrogen generation

RSC Adv. 2019 Jan 10;9(3):1260-1269. doi: 10.1039/c8ra07307d. eCollection 2019 Jan 9.

Authors

Liqun Mao^{1

2}, Qianqian Ba¹, Xinjia Jia¹, Shuang Liu¹, Heng Liu¹, Jing Zhang¹, Xiying Li¹, Wei Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Henan Engineering Research Center of Resource & Energy Recovery from Waste, Henan University Kaifeng 475004 PR China chanwee@henu.edu.cn +86 15737821275.
² Institute of Functional Polymer Composites, Henan University Kaifeng 475004 PR China.

Abstract

Ultrathin metal materials exhibit quantum size and surface effects that give rise to unique catalytic properties. In this paper, we report a facile liquid synthesis method for polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP, K30) capped ultrathin Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets with lamellar structure. The as-prepared ultrathin Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets coupled with CdS nanorods exhibit excellent activity in hydrogen generation from water splitting under visible light. The H₂ evolution rate of Ni(OH)₂/CdS, 40.18 mmol h^-1 g_Cat. ^-1 with a quantum efficiency of 66.1% at 420 nm, is ca. 1.5 times that of Pt/CdS with an optimal loading amount (1.25 wt%) under the same reaction conditions. Considering the cost of photocatalysts, the ultrathin Ni(OH)₂ nanosheet coupled CdS photocatalyst may have a promising commercial application in photocatalytic hydrogen production.