1. A cation exchange strategy to construct highly dispersed copper-doped CdS nanoparticles for photocatalytic hydrogen production.
- Author
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Xue, Mingzhu, Dong, Yuchen, Ye, Xiaoyuan, Guan, Xiangjiu, and Guo, Liejin
- Subjects
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INTERSTITIAL hydrogen generation , *HYDROGEN as fuel , *HYDROGEN production , *CADMIUM sulfide , *BAND gaps , *COPPER - Abstract
Developing facile methods to modulate the structure and performance of photocatalysts plays a pivotal role in the potential large-scale application of photocatalytic hydrogen production. Herein, a series of uniformly sized and highly dispersed copper-doped cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized through a facile cation exchange strategy. The resulting Cu-doped CdS samples exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 2459.3 μ mol·h−1g−1, nearly 11 times that of pure CdS. The introduction of Cu+ ions effectively reduced the band gap, leading to enhanced light absorption, as well as improved charge carrier separation and transfer efficiency. Meanwhile, the theoretical investigation further confirmed that Cu+ doping substantially decreased the free energy of hydrogen adsorption and provided more suitable active sites, thereby promoting the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity on CdS NPs. This work provides compelling evidence for the exploration of novel transition metal-doped photocatalysts for hydrogen production using the cation exchange method. [Display omitted] • Controllable Cu-doped CdS was prepared via cation-exchange approach. • Cu doping induced extended light absorption and accelerated charge separation. • HER was promoted by reduced free energy of hydrogen adsorption via Cu doping. • Photocatalytic hydrogen production of CdS was enhanced by 11 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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