A Highly Efficient Composite Catalyst (Au/Ta 3 N 5)/CdS for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production.

As non-noble metal co-catalysts, Nitrides have received extensive attention for their high efficiency and low cost in photocatalytic hydrogen production. In this study, we develop a novel composite co-catalyst of Au/Ta₃N₅ that significantly enhanced the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of CdS. The activity of photocatalyst (Au/Ta₃N₅)/CdS is 7.3 times of bare CdS and 2.2 times of Ta₃N₅/CdS. The proper capacitance and enhanced activity of Ta₃N₅ demonstrates the capacitance catalysis effect of Ta₃N₅, which improves the charges separation and storing of the photoexcited electrons from CdS. Au acts as an active site for proton reduction to further improve the activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]