Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of CdWO4 through polar organic molecule modification

Abstract In this work, a polar molecule 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) is anchored on the surface of CdWO 4 by forming Cd S and W S bond. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is significantly enhanced (about 3.41 times) after the modification. The reason is due to the modification of 4-MBA, which results in a polar surface and built-in electric field. The polar surface is confirmed by t he steady state and time-resolved PL spectra, V oc and SHG results.