Synthesis and study of morphology regulation, formation mechanism and photocatalytic performance of CdS

The urothermal method is a useful and unique method for preparation and design of three-dimensional (3D) nanoarchitectures. Using thiourea as the sulfur source and cadmium acetate as the cadmium source, hexagonal cone morphology CdS nanomaterial was prepared by urothermal reaction. During the reaction process, the evolution of the structure and morphology of the intermediate product is tracked to study its formation mechanism, and it contains two processes. One is the transformation from cubic CdS to hexagonal CdS, and the other is the growth and development of hexagonal CdS. In addition, studies on water splitting under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) show that CdS with a hexagonal single-cone morphology has a better photolysis property (10.5 mmol h−1 g−1) than the CdS with morphology of particles, rods, and flowers reported in the literature, which is mainly due to the exposure of {0001} active crystal plane.