A cation exchange strategy to construct Rod-shell CdS/CuS nanostructures for broad spectrum photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Herein, CuS as the outer shell is grown on CdS nanorods (NRs) to construct rod-shell nanostructures (CdS/CuS) by a rapid, scalable and facile cation exchange reaction. The CdS NRs are firstly synthesized by a hydrothermal route, in which thiourea as the precursor of sulfur and ethylenediamine (EDA) as the solvent. And then, the outer shells of CdS NRs are successfully exchanged by CuS via a cation exchange reaction. The obtained CdS/CuS rod-shell NRs exhibit much enhanced activity of hydrogen production (640.95 μmol h g) in comparison with pure CdS NRs (74.1 μmol h g) and pure CuS NRs (0 μmol h g). The enhanced photocatalytic activity of CdS/CuS rod-shell NRs owns to the following points: i) the photogenerated electrons generated by CdS quickly migrate to CuS without any barrier due to rod-shell structure by the in-situ cation exchange reaction, a decreased carrier recombination is achieved; ii) CuS as outer shells broaden the light absorption range of CdS/CuS rod-shell NRs into visible or even NIR light, which can produce more electrons and holes. This work inspires people to further study the rod-shell structured photocatalyst through the cation exchange strategy to further solar energy conversion.