Synthesis of Ni-silicate superficially modified CdS and its highly improved photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract Development of photocatalytic hydrogen production through water splitting is promising due to its practical application in converting solar energy into chemical energy. Herein, we report a facile surface decoration of Ni-silicate nanosheet onto CdS nanorods (denote as CdS NRS) to establish an excellent visible-light-driven photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. The as-synthesized CdS NRS@Ni-silicate exhibits an impressively ameliorated performance in the subsequent photocatalysis, engendering 401.7 µmol·h-1 hydrogen, which is 8.9 times higher than that conducted by pure CdS. The improvement in catalytic activity primarily owes much to two contributors: The embedded Ni2+ act as cocatalyst in silicate that enhance the separation efficiency of photo-induced carriers; the silicate layer greatly scatters the Ni2+ ion and consequently keeps it from aggregation on the CdS surface.