title: One-step synthesis of highly efficient three-dimensional Cd1-xZnxS photocatalysts for visible light photocatalytic water splitting.
abstract: Visible light accounts for about 43% of the solar spectrum, and developing highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst is of special significance. In this work, highly efficient three-dimensional (3D) Cd1-xZnxS photocatalysts for hydrogen generation under the irradiation of visible light were synthesized via one-step solvothermal pathway. Scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, Raman spectrometer, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer were utilized to characterize the morphology, crystal structure, vibrational states, and surface composition of the obtained 3D Cd1-xZnxS. UV-Vis spectra indicated that the as-synthesized Cd1-xZnxS had appropriate bandgap and position of the conduction band that is beneficial for visible light absorption and photo-generated electron-hole pair separation. Moreover, the 3D structure offers a larger surface area thus supplying more surface reaction sites and better charge transport environment, and therefore, the efficiency of water splitting was improved further.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China. mjzheng@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zuzhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Maojun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen