A sulfur vacancy rich CdS based composite photocatalyst with g-C₃N₄ as a matrix derived from a Cd–S cluster assembled supramolecular network for H₂ production and VOC removal

Abstract

By calcination, a sulfur vacancy rich CdS based composite photocatalyst with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) as a matrix has been synthesized successfully from a tetranuclear Cd-S cluster assembled supramolecular network. In this photocatalyst (CdS@g-C₃N₄), CdS nanoparticles with a size of about 5 to 8 nm disperse homogenously in the g-C₃N₄ matrix. During calcination, some coordinated nitrogen atoms dope in the lattice of CdS and replace sulfur atoms, which generates a large number of sulfur vacancies. Under visible light irradiation, CdS@g-C₃N₄ exhibits excellent H₂ production activity with a rate achieving as high as 19.88 mmol g^-1 h^-1 in the absence of a Pt cocatalyst. Its H₂ production ability remains stable for 30 h, which does not decay. Besides H₂ production, CdS@g-C₃N₄ also shows excellent photocatalytic activity for Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) degradation. For a photocatalyst, chemical content plays an important role in its performance. Here, the influence of sulfur vacancies on H₂ production and VOC degradation is discussed in detail. We expect that the sulfur vacancy rich CdS@g-C₃N₄ can act as an efficient material for H₂ production and indoor air purification.