CdS nanorods decorated with inexpensive NiCd bimetallic nanoparticles as efficient photocatalysts for visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

In order to obtain the high H-2 evolution activity, an inexpensive and efficient photocatalyst CdS nanorods decorated with NiCd bimetallic nanoparticles has been designed and successfully prepared via an ingenious in situ deposition method. The experiment results indicate that NiCd bimetallic cocatalysts can efficiently inhibit the recombination of the photoinduced electron-hole pairs and promote the interfacial charge transfer, resulting in a significant improvement in photocatalytic H-2 production performance. The NiCd/CdS NRs sample exhibits an excellent photocatalytic H-2 evolution activity under visible light irradiation (lambda > 410 nm), and the corresponding H-2 evolution rate is 11.57 mmol.h(-1).g(-1) , which is about 64.8, 17.2 and 2.3 times as that of pristine CdS NRs, Cd/CdS and Ni/CdS, respectively. This work is expected to provide a new inspiration for rationally designing highly efficient and practical hybrid photocatalyst systems.