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

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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.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21972040), the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (B20031), the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (2021-01-07-00-02-E00106), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (20DZ2250400), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Multi-media Environmental Catalysis and Resource Utilization, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Zehong Xu, Qiaohong Zhu, Mingyang Xing & Jinlong Zhang

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng, 224051, China

    Xinguo Xi & Jinlong Zhang

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  1. Zehong Xu
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  2. Qiaohong Zhu
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  3. Xinguo Xi
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  4. Mingyang Xing
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  5. Jinlong Zhang
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Correspondence to Jinlong Zhang.

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Xu, Z., Zhu, Q., Xi, X. et al. Z-scheme CdS/WO3 on a carbon cloth enabling effective hydrogen evolution. Front. Energy 15, 678–686 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0768-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0768-6

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