Synthesis of CdS/CNTs photocatalysts and study of hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting

A series of CdS and CdS/CNTs photocatalysts were successfully prepared by hydrothermal method and they were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV-visible optical absorption spectra (UV-Vis), etc. By studying their photocatalytic properties, it is found that, for CdS, photocatalysts prepared in appropriate alkaline environment presented higher hydrogen production activity, reaching 794.6 μmol h−1 g−1; the photocatalytic activity of CdS was obviously enhanced by combining it with CNTs via a special two-step hydrothermal method, and the corresponding hydrogen production rate reached 1.771 mmol h−1 g−1; the photocatalytic activity was further improved by loading co-catalyst NiS, achieving 12.13 mmol h−1 g−1.