Water splitting over core-shell structural nanorod CdS@Cr2O3 catalyst by inhibition of H2-O2 recombination via removing nascent formed oxygen using perfluorodecalin

- One-dimensional CdS@Cr2O3/Pt core/shell structure photocatalyst was prepared by in-situ photodeposition.
- The CdS@Cr2O3/Pt core/shell heterostructural photocatalyst facilitates the efficient photogenerated carriers separation.
- The photocorrosion of CdS was significantly inhibited.
- The H2-O2 recombination reaction were inhibited successfully via PDFL.
- With the help of PFDL, our catalyst achieved 126.6 μmol·g−1catalyst H2 with an excellent stability.

One-dimensional CdS@Cr2O3 core/shell nanorod catalyst was prepared via one-step photodeposition for photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen. The Cr2O3 shell was homogeneously coated on the surface of CdS/Pt core, forming coaxial heterostructure. This one-dimensional core/shell heterostructural assembly facilitates the high efficient photogenerated charge separation and transfer from CdS to Cr2O3 under visible light illumination, which suppressed the photocorrosion of CdS. Moreover, with the help of artificial blood component perfluorodecalin (PFDL), the nascent formed oxygen was removed from the reaction mixture, which further inhibited the oxygen induced photocorrosion, finally the catalyst exhibited 126.6 μmol·g−1catalyst H2 formation in 2 h without sacrifice reagent addition under visible light irradiation. No significant decay of activity was observed in 8 h. The present results showed core-shell heterostructural CdS@Cr2O3 could be one of candidates for photocatalytic water splitting catalysts and oxygen capture reagent PFDL could be used for removing nascent oxygen to inhibit the H2-O2 recombination reverse reaction and enhance hydrogen evolution activity.

The Cr2O3 shell was homogeneously coated on the surface of CdS/Pt core nanhybrid, forming coaxial heterostructure. The one-dimensional core/shell heterostructural facilitates the significant photogenerated carriers separation and the holes transfer from CdS to Cr2O3 under visible light illumination. Moreover, with the help of capture oxygen reagent perfluorodecalin, our system achieved 126.6 μmol·g−1catalyst H2 in 2 h without sacrifice reagent under visible light irradiation and maintained excellent stability in 8 h without obvious decay.159