A Hollow Porous CdS Photocatalyst

Efficient light harvesting and charge separation are of great importance in solar-energy conversion on photocatalysts. Herein, the synthesis of a novel hollow porous CdS photocatalyst with effectively restrained electron–hole recombination is reported. By using microporous zeolites as a host and a hard template, ultrasmall Pd and PdS nanoparticles can be anchored separately onto the inner and outer surfaces of a hollow CdS structure. The metallic Pd pulls the photoexcited electrons away from CdS while PdS pushes the holes for more thorough oxidation of the sacrificial agent. The final Pd@CdS/PdS product exhibits superior visible-light-driven photocatalytic H₂ evolution rate of up to 144.8 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹. This is among the highest values of all the reported CdS-based catalysts. This synthetic approach may be used to fabricate other highly efficient catalysts with spatially separated cocatalysts.