Enhanced solar-light-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting performance of type II 1D/0D CdS/In2S3 nanorod arrays

One-dimensional (1D)/zero-dimensional (0D) CdS/In2S3 nanorod arrays (NRAs) have been successfully constructed by depositing In2S3 nanoparticles (NPs) on 1D CdS NRAs via successive ion layer absorption and reaction. The constructed CdS/In2S3 NRAs photoanode with optimized In2S3 loading generates a photocurrent density of 1.15 mA/cm2, which is augmented by 2.6 times to that of unmodified CdS photoanode under simulated solar light irradiation without an external bias. The significantly boosted PEC capability of the constructed CdS/In2S3 NRAs is ascribed to (i) the synergistic actions of CdS and In2S3; (ii) improvement of optical absorption and (iii) efficient charge separation due to type-II band structure.