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Lookup NU author(s): Jian Huang, Professor Deqian Zeng
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© 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH. To meet the urgent global demand for hydrogen (H2) energy, the development of highly efficient, stable, and noble-metal-free photocatalysts has become a crucial research direction. While CdS possesses broad light absorption and a suitable band structure, its practical application is severely limited by rapid charge carrier recombination, insufficient active sites, and particle agglomeration. Integrating semiconductors to construct heterojunctions effectively mitigates these issues by providing abundant active sites and accelerating charge separation. Herein, a facile in situ solvothermal synthesis strategy was employed to construct a Cu31S16/CdS heterojunction photocatalyst. The optimized composite (0.2-Cu31S16/CdS) exhibited a remarkable H2 production rate of 5369 μmol g−1 h−1, representing 20.4 times enhancement over pure CdS. Furthermore, the heterojunction maintained robust H2 production performance without noticeable activity decay over five consecutive cycles. Photoelectrochemical measurements and density functional theory (DFT) revealed that introducing Cu31S16 generates a stable built-in electric field and induces interfacial band bending. This formed p–n heterojunction provides a strong driving force for spatial charge separation, significantly reducing charge transfer resistance, prolonging carrier lifetime, and enhancing the H2 production performance. This work provides valuable guidelines for the rational design of robust metal sulfide heterojunctions, paving the way for sustainable solar-to-H2 conversion.
Author(s): Yang Y, Lin W, Duan L, Li W, Huang J, Zeng D
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Solar RRL
Year: 2026
Volume: 10
Issue: 13
Print publication date: 15/07/2026
Online publication date: 13/07/2026
Acceptance date: 03/07/2026
ISSN (print): 2367-198X
ISSN (electronic): 2367-198X
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.70426
DOI: 10.1002/solr.70426
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