Stable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water over ZnO–CdS core–shell nanorods

Stability and efficiency are important to realize the practical applications of photocatalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting. ZnO–CdS core–shell nanorods with a wide absorption range were designed and synthesized by a two-step route. The ZnO–CdS core–shell nanorods exhibit stable and high photocatalytic activity for water splitting into hydrogen in the presence of S2− and SO32− as sacrificial reagents. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity and stability of ZnO–CdS core–shell nanorods/RuO2 co-catalyst is superior to that of ZnO–CdS core–shell nanorods/Pt co-catalyst. The merits of stable ZnO and CdS, core–shell and nanorod structures employed are considered to contribute to the favorable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of ZnO–CdS core–shell nanorods.