Effects of composition and calcination temperature on photocatalytic H 2 evolution over Cd1-x ZnxS/SiO2 from glycerol and water mixture

Abstract

A series of sulfide coupled semiconductors supported on SiO2, Cd 1-x Znx S/SiO2 (x = 0 ∼ 1), was prepared by incipient wet impregnation method. The photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, XPS, TPR, and UV/Vis DRS. Characterization results show that the chemical actions between ZnS and CdS resulted in the formation of Cd1-x Znx S solid solutions on the surface of the support and the formation of them is affected by the molar ratio of ZnS/CdS and calcination temperature. Performance of photocatalysts was tested in the home made reactor under both UV light and solar-simulated light irradiation by detecting the rate of the photocatalytic H2 evolution from glycerol solution. The hydrogen production rates are related to the catalyst composition, surface structure, photoabsorption property, as well as the amount of solid solution. The maximum rate of hydrogen production, 550molh-1 under UV light irradiation and 210 μmolh-1 under solar-simulated light irradiation, was obtained over Cd0.8Zn0.2S/SiO2 solid solution calcined at 723K. Copyright © 2012 Cancan Fan et al.