Synthesis of novel hollow CdS/UMCM-1 photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and hydrogen production

Design of photocatalyst with high stability, efficiency to achieve rapid separation of photogenic carrier and enhanced photocatalytic activity is a key challenge. Herein, integrating hollow CdS nanospheres on the surface of the metal-organic frameworks UMCM-1 to form a novel CdS/UMCM-1 heterojunction by solvothermal method, and the structure of the catalyst was characterized by SEM, TEM, FT-IR spectra and PXRD. The properties of CdS/UMCM-1 photocatalyst was evaluated by eliminating organic pollutants (Rhodamine b(RhB), Tetracycline(TC)) and hydrogen production under visible light, and the results showed that CdS/UMCM-1 heterojunction exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance compared with the pristine CdS nanospheres and UMCM-1. A S-type photocatalytic mechanism was proposed based on radical trapping experiments, electron spin resonance (ESR) analyses and the degradation pathway of RhB and TC. CdS/UMCM-1 heterojunction possessed a great stability and reusability making them interesting for applications in the environmental and clean energy fields.