Cd1−xZnxS supported on SBA-16 as photocatalysts for water splitting under visible light: Influence of Zn concentration

• Cd1−xZnxS/SBA-16 is an effective catalyst for visible light water splitting.
• Influence of varying Cd/Zn ratio was studied.
• Bandgap of the Cd1−xZnxS solid solutions is modified by Zn concentration.
• Hydrogen production rate is not affected by support morphology.

Cd1−xZnxS solid solutions (x = 0.05–0.3) supported on mesoporous silica SBA-16 substrate with 3D cubic structure were investigated for hydrogen production from water splitting under visible light. The influence of Zn concentration (x) in the Cd1−xZnxS solid solution and support morphology were investigated. The bare SBA-16 substrate was synthetized by the hydrothermal method whereas the Cd1−xZnxS photocatalysts were prepared by coprecipitation of metal sulfides from aqueous solutions of Cd2+ and Zn2+ using Na2S as precipitating agent. An attempt has been made to determine the photocatalyst structures using several techniques including elemental analysis, N2 adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS) and Raman spectroscopy. Surface characterization of the samples by XPS indicates that Cd1−xZnxS nanoparticles are unevenly distributed on both external surface and within the pore network. An increase of the band gap energy with increasing Zn loading up to x = 0.2 in the Cd1−xZnxS solid solution was observed. As a consequence, H2 evolution increases gradually with an increase of the Zn loading in the photocatalysts from 0.05 to 0.2 wt% being the Cd0.8Zn0.2S/SBA-16 system the most active among the catalysts studied. The highest activity of this photocatalyst was explained in terms not only of its large band gap energy but also by the enhancement of the interaction between the particles of solid solution and the SBA-16 substrate.