Studies on the hydrothermal synthesis of CdxZn1-xS compounds

In this study series of CdxZn1-xS solid solutions with different amounts of Cd and Zn were synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment of aqueous solutions containing CdCl2, Na2S center dot 9H(2)O and ZnSO4 center dot 7 H2O. The aim was to examine the influence of Zn concentration and processing conditions (hydrothermal temperature and duration) on the structure of the obtained powders and their photocatalytic activity (in water splitting process). The obtained photocatalysts (with and without Pd co-catalyst) were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), ultravioletvisible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method and gas chromatography (GC). The XRD results confirmed the crystallinity of the compounds and transition from hexagonal to cubic phase with increasing Zn content. Complete transformation from hexagonal to cubic phase did not take place, and both phases were present in almost all Samples. BET analysis showed the importance of the pore distribution and pore size, especially in the case of photocatalysts with different duration treatment. GC measurements of the photocatalysts without and with Pd co-catalyst confirmed the production of hydrogen for all tested compounds. The best photocatalytic performance was achieved by the sample Zn(50)230/72-Pd prepared at 230 degrees C, for 72 hours, with 50% Zn and in the presence of Pd co-catalyst. The synthesis implied no stabilizer neither organic compound.