Synthesis of CdSe/SrTiO3 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production activity

• Published in: Applied surface science 2019-02, Vol.467-468, p.1033-1039
• Main Authors: Han, Jishu, Dai, Fangxu, Liu, Ying, Zhao, Ruiyang, Wang, Lei, Feng, Shouhua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CdSe/SrTiO3; Hydrogen production; Nanocomposite; Photocatalysis
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.10.267

[Display omitted] •CdSe sensitized SrTiO3 nanocomposites exhibit high photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production.•The formation of heterojunction improves the separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons.•The photocatalytic hydrogen production mechanism of CdSe/SrTiO3 nanocomposites is proposed. The photocatalytic hydrogen production has become one of the most promising strategies to solve the energy crisis and environmental pollution. Novel CdSe/SrTiO3 nanocomposites (average diameter ≈ 114.6 nm) with high photocatalytic activity are synthesized and used for visible light photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production. Through optimizing the concentration of CdSe QDs, CdSe/SrTiO3 nanocomposites exhibit increased visible light absorption and enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution efficiency compared to SrTiO3 nanoparticles. The maximum H2 evolution amount reaches to 3350.53 μmol in 8 h by using CdSe/SrTiO3-3 as catalyst. Owing to the formation of heterojunction at the interface between CdSe and SrTiO3, the electrochemical impedance spectrum of CdSe/SrTiO3-3 exhibits the smallest arc radius and the photocurrent density of CdSe/SrTiO3-3 reaches to 0.26 μA cm−2. The photogenerated electrons are effectively separated and transferred and the recombination of electron-hole pairs is avoided, thus significantly improving the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of CdSe/SrTiO3 nanocomposites.