Hierarchical porous CdS nanosheet-assembled flowers with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2-production performance

• Hierarchical porous CdS nanosheet-assembled flowers were synthesized by a simple ion-exchange strategy using morphology-analogous Cd(OH)2 and Na2S as precursors.
• The prepared CdS flowers exhibited high visible-light photocatalytic H2 production activity and 24.7% quantum efficiency at 420 nm.
• The ion-exchange strategy of Cd(OH)2 intermediates can be extended to the preparation of other porous oxides and sulfides with hierarchical nanostructures.
• The hierarchical organization of nanosheets and porous nanosheet structures can efficiently enhance light-absorption ability and provide a greater number of active adsorption sites.

Hierarchical porous CdS nanosheet-assembled flowers were synthesized by a simple ion-exchange strategy using morphology-analogous Cd(OH)2 and Na2S as precursors. The prepared CdS flowers exhibited high visible-light photocatalytic H2-production activity with a rate of 468.7 μmol h−1 and the corresponding apparent quantum efficiency (QE) of 24.7% at 420 nm, which exceeded that obtained on CdS nanoparticles by more than 3 times. This enhanced photocatalytic H2-production activity was achieved because the hierarchical organization of nanosheets and porous nanosheet structures can efficiently enhance light-absorption ability and provide a greater number of active adsorption sites. This work shows a great potential of hierarchical porous CdS nanosheet-assembled flowers for photocatalytic H2 production, and also demonstrates that the ion-exchange strategy of Cd(OH)2 intermediates can be extended to the preparation of other porous oxides and sulfides with hierarchical nanostructures.

Hierarchical porous CdS nanosheet-assembled flowers, synthesized by ion-exchange between Cd(OH)2 and Na2S, exhibited high visible-light photocatalytic H2 production performance.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide