Au@TiO2–CdS ternary nanostructures for efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen generation

• Main Authors: Yin, Li-Sha, Fang, Jun, Xu, Lin, Zhang, Zhenyi, Yuan, Yu-Peng, Cao, Shao-Wen, Wang, Zheng, Liao, Yusen, Xue, Can
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Nanostructured materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/99458; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17593
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

We report a new type of Au@TiO2-CdS ternary nanostructures by decorating CdS nanoparticles onto Au@TiO2 core-shell structures. Comparing to the binary structures, such as CdS-TiO2 and Au@TiO2, these ternary nanostructures exhibit remarkably high photocatalytic H2 generation rate under visible-light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the unique ternary design, which builds up a transfer path for the photoexcited electrons of CdS to the core Au particles via the TiO2 nanocrystal bridge, and thus effectively suppressed the electron-hole recombination on the CdS photocatalyst. This internal electron transfer pathway (CdS→TiO2→Au) eliminates the needs of post-deposition of metal co-catalyst since the core Au nanoparticle can act as the interior active catalyst for proton reduction towards hydrogen evolution. We believe that our work demonstrates a promising way for rational design of metal-semiconductor hybrid photocatalysts to achieve high photocatalytic efficiency for solar fuels production.