Solar hydrogen generation over CdS incorporated in Ti-MCM-48 mesoporous materials under visible light illumination.

Abstract MCM-48 cubic mesoporous materials containing CdS and spatially isolated titania nanoclusters were prepared in this study. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption isotherm, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies were employed for the characterization of the CdS containing Ti-MCM-48 mesoporous materials. In the current study, all the samples showed photocatalytic activity under visible light (λ > 400 nm) irradiation for production of hydrogen from splitting of water without Pt as a co-catalyst. The solar hydrogen evolution rate by visible light irradiation seemed to be dependent on CdS and TiO 2 content and the most active photocatalyst produced hydrogen at a rate of 2.726 mmol/h/g catalyst . The apparent quantum yield of the most active photocatalyst was estimated to be 36.3%.