Thio linkage between CdS quantum dots and UiO-66-type MOFs as an effective transfer bridge of charge carriers boosting visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)/semiconductor hybrids have attracted attention in photocatalysis. Herein, we report a new strategy to use thiol-laced UiO-66 (UiO-66-(SH)2) as a porous and functional support for anchoring CdS quantum dots (QDs) (size: 0.5/3 nm). Cd2+ ions are firstly absorbed into the cavities of UiO-66-(SH)2 MOFs via coordinating to the thiol groups in the presence of a base to produce UiO-66-(S-Cd)2, then thiourea is added to form UiO-66-(S-CdS)2 (abbreviated as UiOS-CdS). It is clearly revealed by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy that the thio linkage between UiO-66 and CdS acts as an effective transfer bridge of charge carriers, which greatly promotes the interface transfer process of photogenerated electrons and holes, boosting the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance from water splitting. The optimized UiOS-CdS exhibits a photocatalytic H2 production rate of 153.2 μmol h−1 (10 mg of catalyst) under visible-light irradiation (λ > 420 nm) in the absence of nobel metal co-catalyst, corrsponding to an apparent quantum efficiency of 11.9% at 420 nm. This work may provide an effective strategy to construct QDs-linker-MOFs stylephotocatalysts for efficient energy conversion.