Highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation by incorporating CdS into ZnCr-layered double hydroxide interlayer

CdS-pillared ZnCr-LDH nanohybrid was prepared by incorporating CdS nanoparticles into the interlayer of ZnCr-LDH nanosheets via an exfoliation-restacking route. The resultant nanohybrid exhibits an interlayer spacing of 2.50 nm and a mesoporous texture with a specific surface area of 86 m(2) g(-1). It was revealed that there exists a strong electronic coupling between the two components in the pillared heterostructure, which remarkably suppresses the photogenerated electron-hole recombination. The as-prepared nanohybrid displayed significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity. Its H-2-evolution rates were as high as 374 mu mol h(-1) g(-1) with a quantum efficiency of 42.6% and 2164 mu mol h(-1) g(-1) with a quantum efficiency of 48.2% under visible and UV-visible light, respectively, which were far superior to those of its parents ZnCr-LDH and CdS. The present findings clearly demonstrate that the self-assembly of CdS-LDHs is quite effective in synthesizing novel LDHs-based visible-light-driven photocatalysts with high performance in hydrogen evolution from water splitting.