Functionalized nanostructures for enhanced photocatalytic performance under solar light

• Liejin Guo,
• Dengwei Jing,
• Maochang Liu,
• Yubin Chen,
• Shaohua Shen,
• Jinwen Shi and
• Kai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 994–1004, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.113

• ][2][3][4]. Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water by using solar energy is one of the most acceptable routes for this aim, since only abundant water and solar energy are needed for hydrogen production in the process. If the economic viability for industrial application is successfully

• satisfied, it will ultimately solve the energy and environmental problems [5][6]. Since the first report by Fujishima and Honda in 1972 [7], hydrogen production from water over semiconducting powders or films by using solar energy has been extensively studied. Thermodynamically, the reaction of producing

• (corresponding to an absorption threshold larger than 420 nm). Efficient utilization of these huge amounts of "low energy" photons is crucial to the realization of commercial solar photocatalytic hydrogen production. To this end, band engineering is necessary to design semiconductor photocatalysts with

A visible-light-driven composite photocatalyst of TiO₂ nanotube arrays and graphene quantum dots

• Donald K. L. Chan,
• Po Ling Cheung and
• Jimmy C. Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 689–695, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.81

• visible-light-driven photocatalysis [35][36]. Very recently, the combination of GQDs with CdS-modified TNAs was reported for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. However, GQDs did not enhance the activity of bare TNAs in the study [37]. GQDs have also been chemically coupled with ZnO nanowires for

High activity of Ag-doped Cd_0.1Zn_0.9S photocatalyst prepared by the hydrothermal method for hydrogen production under visible-light irradiation

• Leny Yuliati,
• Melody Kimi and
• Mustaffa Shamsuddin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 587–595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.69

• activity of Cd0.1Zn0.9S was studied for the hydrogen production from water reduction under visible light irradiation. Results: Compared to the series prepared by the co-precipitation method, samples prepared by the hydrothermal method performed with a better photocatalytic activity. The sample with the

• optimum amount of Ag doping showed the highest hydrogen production rate of 3.91 mmol/h, which was 1.7 times higher than that of undoped Cd0.1Zn0.9S. With the Ag doping, a red shift in the optical response was observed, leading to a larger portion of the visible light absorption than that of without doping

• Cd0.1Zn0.9S photocatalyst. Keywords: Ag doping; Cd0.1Zn0.9S; hydrogen production; hydrothermal; visible light; Introduction The development of clean and renewable hydrogen energy through a sustainable production process is still a big issue to be addressed. Solar energy is a very attractive option as it is

Preparation of NiS/ZnIn₂S₄ as a superior photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation

• Liang Wei,
• Yongjuan Chen,
• Jialin Zhao and
• Zhaohui Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 949–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.107

• electrodes for water splitting by Fujishima and Honda in 1972, great efforts have been devoted to the development of highly efficient semiconductor photocatalysts for hydrogen production [4]. So far, a variety of active photocatalysts for hydrogen production, including metal oxides [5][6][7][8], sulfides [9