The NiS/CdS hollow octahedral composites towards enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and photodegradation via active sites synergism

The NiS/CdS hollow octahedral composites are prepared via an approach of dual hydrothermal method in alkaline solution. The NiS/CdS composites (NiS/CdS–OH) exhibit remarkable enhanced photocatalytic HER activity (∼5320.93 μmol g−1 h−1) and photodegradation than CdS (∼26 folds/∼7 folds). There, the NiS/CdS–OH with appropriate potential gradient and sufficient active sites can ameliorate carrier efficiency effectively, including transportation increasing, lifetime prolonging and recombination decreasing, especially the synergism of rapid electron solid/liquid interface diffusion of active sites. In addition, the hollow octahedral structure can increase light reflections and maintain a good stability.