title: Mesoporous Cd1-xZnxS microspheres with tunable bandgap and high specific surface areas for enhanced visible-light-driven hydrogen generation.
abstract: Visible-light-driven splitting of water using semiconductor photocatalysts is an excellent example of sustainable chemistry. The fabrication of mesoporous photocatalysts with a narrow bandgap into the sunlight region and a high specific surface area is crucial for efficient hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation. Herein, we describe a facile one-pot hydrothermal approach toward uniform mesoporous microspheres of Cd1-xZnxS by adopting diethylenetriamine (DETA) as the structure-directing agent. The method is facile, reproducible and allows simultaneously control of the morphology, particle size, bandgaps, as well as the specific surface area of the mesoporous microspheres Cd1-xZnxS. The photocatalytic activity on H2 production through the splitting of water without noble metal loadingis highly enhanced by the mesoporous structure feature of the products. The optimized Cd0.2Zn0.8S mesoporous microspheres exhibit a specific surface area up to 98.09m(2)/g and a H2 production rate of 3.43mmol/hg (about 7.62 times higher than that of pure CdS powers) under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, apparent quantum efficiency (QE) of 16.2% was achieved in the as-fabricated Cd0.2Zn0.8S mesoporous microspheres under irradiation at 420nm. This study provides an effective route toward mesoporous microspheres photocatalysts for further investigations and practical applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China.
authors.forename: Yannan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China; High Pressure Science and Engineering Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, United States. Electronic address: yyggwang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Suoying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China.
authors.forename: Binbin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China.
authors.forename: Yanzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanostructured Functional Materials, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, Henan 450006, China.
authors.forename: Baocheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Cd(1−)(x)Zn(x)S; Mesoporous microspheres; Photocatalytic; Visible; Water splitting