Organic-inorganic CdS/CBT S-scheme heterojunction with enhanced charge transfer for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

Owing to its ability to reduce charge recombination and enhance redox capability, the step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction has manifested appealing prospect for photocatalysis. In this work, an organic-inorganic S-scheme heterojunction based on CdS nanorods and conjugated polymer 2-hexyl-carbazole-benzothiadiazole (CBT) is constructed. The obtained catalyst exhibited impressive photocatalytic hydrogen production performance (14.02 mmol g^-1 h^-1) with a high apparent quantum efficiency of 5.4% at 420 nm. The charge transfer mechanism and the enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen production in S-scheme heterojunctions were investigated by density functional theory calculations, in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and in situ Kelvin probe force microscopy. The successful construction of organic-inorganic S-scheme heterojunctions and the formation of Cd-S bonds at the interface effectively promoted the separation and transfer of charge carriers.

Keywords

charge separation and transfer / photocatalytic hydrogen production / S-scheme heterojunction

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