Photocorrosion-less stable heterojunction photoanode for efficient visible-light driven solar hydrogen generation

In this work, a heterostructure CdS/TiO2 nanotubes (TNT) photoelectrode is decorated with Ni nanoparticles (NPs) to enhance hydrogen generation via the photoelectrochemical method. Herein, we report a systematic study of the effect of Ni NPs heterostructure photoelectrode to improve light absorption and photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. The fabricated photoelectrodes were evaluated for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation under simulated sunlight. The optimized Ni/CdS/TNT photoelectrode exhibited an improved photocurrent density of 6.5 mA cm−2 in poly-sulfide aqueous media at a low potential of 0 V. Owing to the enhanced photocurrent density, Ni NPs also played a significant role in improving the stability of the photoelectrode. The synergistic effect with semiconductor ternary junction incites the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for light-harvesting to enhance photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation.