Pt-Ru bi-metal co-catalyst: Preparation, characterization and its effect on CdS’s activity for water splitting under visible light

Abstract This paper focuses on the bi-metal co-catalyst of CdS in hydrogen generation from water-splitting under visible light. According to the experimental results, the photo-activity is significantly promoted as bi-metal co-catalyst modified on the surface of CdS. The H 2 evolution rate of Pt-Ru/CdS, 18.35 mmol/h/gCat, is ca. 1.7 times as much as that of Pt/CdS, and 2.9 times as much as that of Ru/CdS. XRD, HRTEM coupled with EDX and ED, HAADF-STEM along with corresponding elements mapping, and XPS were applied to characterize the bi-metal structure of Pt-Ru NPs. PL lifetime testing of Pt-Ru/CdS indicated that the high active of Pt-Ru/CdS lied in its high separation efficiency, which might be caused by the cooperative interaction between Pt and Ru. Based on the studies in this paper, we suggested that both of the composition and structure of the co-catalyst may have significant effect on the photo-catalytic property of CdS in hydrogen generation from water splitting under visible light.