The influence of the sacrificial agent nature on transformations of the Zn(OH)/CdZnS photocatalyst during hydrogen production under visible light.

Photocatalysts based on zinc hydroxide and a solid solution of CdS and ZnS were prepared the precipitation method and used for photocatalytic hydrogen production from aqueous solutions of inorganic (NaS/NaSO) and organic (ethanol) sacrificial agents. The photocatalysts were tested in cyclic experiments for hydrogen evolution and studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. Different transformations of the β-Zn(OH) co-catalyst were observed in the presence of inorganic and organic sacrificial agents; namely, ZnS was formed in NaS/NaSO solution, whereas the formation of ε-Zn(OH) was detected in solution with ethanol.

Synthesis of CdZnS photocatalysts for gas-phase CO reduction under visible light.

Novel photocatalysts for CO2 reduction, which consist of a cadmium and zinc sulfide solid solution (Cd1-xZnxS), were successfully prepared by a simple two-step technique. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and low-temperature N2 adsorption techniques and were tested in the gas-phase photocatalytic reduction of CO2 under visible light (λ = 450 nm). All the synthesized Cd1-xZnxS solid solutions were capable of enabling the chemical transformations of CO2 under the conditions considered.