Z-scheme CdS/WO3 on a carbon cloth enabling effective hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen (H₂) generation is a potential strategy to solve the problem of energy crisis and environmental deterioration. However, powder-like photocatalysts are difficult to recycle, and the agglomeration of particles would affect the photocatalytic activity. Herein, a direct Z-scheme CdS/WO₃ composite photocatalyst was fabricated based on carbon cloth through a two-step process. With the support of carbon cloth, photocatalysts tend to grow uniformly for further applications. The experimental results showed that the H₂ yield of adding one piece of CdS/WO₃ composite material was 17.28 μmol/h, which was 5.5 times as compared to that of pure CdS-loaded carbon cloth material. A cycle experiment was conducted to verify the stability of the as-prepared material and the result demonstrated that the H₂ generation performance of CdS/WO₃ decreased slightly after 3 cycles. This work provides new ideas for the development of recyclable photocatalysts and has a positive significance for practical applications.