Solar-to-hydrogen conversion is a potential technology to help end our dependency on fossil fuels. The electron cloud structure of metal sulfide is more suitable than oxide for the preparation of photocatalytic materials. However, their low production rate has always been a limiting factor. Precious metal cocatalysts, such as Pt, Pd, Au, and Ru, are often introduced to tackle this problem. But in fact, their high price and scarcity limit their large-scale application in photocatalysis. At the same time, photooxidation corrosion has always been a problem in the application of metal sulfide. In the present study, we loaded cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods with noble metal-free nickel-based cocatalyst at room temperature. The reaction conditions were mild, making the process facile and easy to control. The nickel-based cocatalyst successfully prevented the oxidative photocorrosion of CdS, making the composite material stable for an extended time. The suggested non-noble metal-based cocatalyst had better performance than the traditional Pt cocatalyst. The hydrogen production rate was 58 mmol/g/h at the reaction time of 5 h, and the cumulative hydrogen production was kept up to 35 h with the same evolution rate. Overall, the results were striking to serve a new idea for efficient and persistent photocatalytic hydrogen generation using a non-noble metal-based photocatalyst.

太阳能到氢气的转化是一项潜在的技术，可以帮助我们结束对化石燃料的依赖。金属硫化物的电子云结构比氧化物更适合制备光催化材料。然而，其低生产率一直是一个限制因素。通常引入贵金属助催化剂，如 Pt、Pd、Au 和 Ru，来解决这个问题。但事实上，它们的高价格和稀缺性限制了它们在光催化领域的大规模应用。同时，光氧化腐蚀一直是金属硫化物应用中的难题。在本研究中，我们在室温下将不含贵金属的镍基助催化剂负载到硫化镉（CdS）纳米棒上。反应条件温和，反应过程简便易控。镍基助催化剂成功阻止了CdS的氧化光腐蚀，使复合材料长时间稳定。建议的非贵金属基助催化剂比传统的 Pt 助催化剂具有更好的性能。反应时间为5 h时，产氢率为58 mmol/g/h，累积产氢量保持至35 h，且释放速率相同。总体而言，结果令人震惊，为使用非贵金属基光催化剂高效且持久地光催化制氢提供了新思路。累积产氢量保持长达35小时，且释放速率相同。总体而言，结果令人震惊，为使用非贵金属基光催化剂高效且持久地光催化制氢提供了新思路。累积产氢量保持长达35小时，且释放速率相同。总体而言，结果令人震惊，为使用非贵金属基光催化剂高效且持久地光催化制氢提供了新思路。