Synthesis and characterization of ligand stabilized CdS-Trititanate composite materials for visible light-induced photocatalytic water splitting

We report a facile method for the synthesis of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) stabilized CdS-trititanate nanotube (CdS-TNT) composite materials. The resultant materials were well characterized by powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, Raman spectroscopy, UV–Visible Diffuse Reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier-Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The photocatalytic performances of these materials were evaluated by monitoring the amount of hydrogen evolved from water under visible light irradiation. The amount of hydrogen evolved from MBA stabilized CdS-TNT composite materials were higher compared to MBA stabilized CdS, suggesting an important role of the TNT support. The enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation in MBA stabilized CdS-TNT composite materials compared to CdS-MBA might have arisen from the effective charge separation in CdS-TNT composite materials, which was further supported by PL studies.