Synthesis of Durian-like TiO₂@CdS Core-Shell Structure and Study on H₂ Generation Properties

Novel durian-like TiO₂@CdS core-shell particles were synthesized through a solvothermal method in ethylenediamine solution and the obtained nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. It can be seen from the characterization that the synthesized core-shell structured particles show uniform size. The possible formation mechanism of TiO₂@CdS core-shell particles is also presented schematically. CdS grows on the TiO₂ surface in the form of nanorods, turning the TiO₂@CdS composite particles into durian-like structures. The durian-like TiO₂@CdS core-shell particles prepared in the experiment can overcome the disadvantages of TiO₂ and CdS, respectively. They not only produce a higher yield of H₂ than pure TiO₂; the durian-like TiO₂@CdS nanostructures formed at 180 °C for 16 h produced 2.5 times as much H₂ as did TiO₂, also showing enhanced stability as compared with pure CdS.