Effect of Pt–Pd hybrid nano-particle on CdS's activity for water splitting under visible light

Abstract This paper focuses on the bi-metal co-catalyst of CdS in hydrogen generation from water-splitting under visible light. Pt–Pd eutectic alloy NPs was prepared by two-step chemical reduction, and was subsequently loaded on the surface of CdS photo-catalyst by photo-induced electrons when water splitting reaction was occurring under 300 W Xe light ( λ  > 420 nm). According to the experimental results, the photo-activity is significantly promoted as bi-metal modified on the surface of CdS. The H 2 evolution rate of Pt–Pd/CdS, 25.28 mmol/h/gCat., is ca. 2.4 times as much as that of Pt/CdS, and 3.8 times as much as that of Pd/CdS. HRTEM/ED/EDS revealed that the so-obtained Pt–Pd hybrid NPs with a particle size of 5–8 nm is of similar twin structure. XPS revealed that the as-prepared Pt–Pd bi-metal NPs mainly composed of metallic Pt 0 and Pd 0 . UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum of CdS nanoparticles interpreted its trait in visible light adsorption, and PL lifetime indicated that the high active of Pt–Pd/CdS lies in its high separation efficiency.