Solar photocatalytic water splitting using particulate semiconductors has been valued as a potentially scalable way for the production of clean H2 energy, yet the performances of the powder-suspension systems are constrained by insufficient utilization of light energy and tedious recycling of photocatalyst particles. Here, we present a high-performance photocatalytic H2 evolution using a visible-light-driven CdS-based monolithic photocatalyst with three-dimensional (3D) heterostructure. The monolithic photocatalyst is fabricated by firmly growing CdS microspheres on a Ni(OH)2 nanosheet-modified Ni foam (NF) (denoted as CdS-NiSx/NF) via a simple hydrothermal process. The structure and component synergy endows the monolithic CdS-NiSx/NF photocatalyst advantageous features including high-density CdS microspheres for visible light harvesting, multiple heterojunction interfaces for efficient electron-hole separation, and abundant interfacial NiSx active sites for efficient H2 evolution reaction (HER). Upon visible light irradiation, the monolithic CdS-NiSx/NF photocatalyst exhibits an outstanding photocatalytic H2 evolution activity with an enhanced rate of 6.2 mmol·h−1 g−1CdS, which is 6 times higher than that of the suspended CdS powder. In addition, the structural integrity of the CdS-NiSx/NF enables a good stability for H2 evolution over a 30 h reaction. This monolithic photocatalyst is scalable in preparation and compatible for device fabrication, which offers great potentials for applications in solar cells, photoelectrocatalysis, and electrocatalysis.

中文翻译：

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将 CdS 颗粒连接到泡沫镍上作为三维整体光催化剂，实现可见光驱动的高效 H2 析出


使用颗粒半导体的太阳能光催化分解水一直被认为是生产清洁 H2 能源的一种潜在的可扩展方法，但粉末悬浮系统的性能受到光能利用不足和光催化剂颗粒繁琐回收的限制。在这里，我们提出了一种使用可见光驱动的基于CdS的具有三维（3D）异质结构的单片光催化剂的高性能光催化H2析出。整体光催化剂是通过简单的水热工艺在 Ni（OH）2 纳米片改性的泡沫镍 （NF）（表示为 CdS-NiSx/NF）上牢固生长的 CdS 微球制成的。结构和组分协同作用赋予了整体 CdS-NiSx/NF 光催化剂的优点，包括用于可见光收集的高密度 CdS 微球、用于高效电子-空穴分离的多个异质结界面以及用于高效 H2 析出反应 （HER） 的丰富界面 NiSx 活性位点。在可见光照射下，整体式 CdS-NiSx/NF 光催化剂表现出优异的光催化 H2 析出活性，其速率提高到 6.2 mmol·h−1 g−1CdS，是悬浮 CdS 粉末的 6 倍。此外，CdS-NiSx/NF 的结构完整性使 H2 析出在 30 h 反应中具有良好的稳定性。这种整体式光催化剂的制备具有可扩展性，并且与器件制造兼容，这为太阳能电池、光电催化和电催化的应用提供了巨大的潜力。