Vis-NIR light-responsive direct Z-scheme LaNiO3/CdS heterojunction photocatalysts for H2 evolution

The Vis-NIR light-responsive direct Z-scheme LaNiO3/CdS nanohybrid was synthesized via a refluxing method, fully characterized, and used in photocatalytic H-2 evolution. The H2 evolved over LaNiO3/CdS photocatalyst in 5 h was 737 mu mol under visible light irradiation, which was 4.3 times that over CdS (172 mu mol) ascribed to the formed heterojunction between LaNiO3 and CdS. Moreover, the introduced LaNiO3 extended the light absorption to the NIR region and the H-2 evolution increased to 996 mu mol under Vis-NIR light irradiation. LaNiO3 exhibited upconversion luminescence at 406 and 628 nm when excited at 808 nm, which means that LaNiO3 can generate charge carriers under NIR light irradiation, thereby further improving the efficiency of its photocatalytic H-2 evolution.