Ionic Liquid Synthesis of CdS Nanoparticles for the Photocatalytic Generation of Hydrogen from Water

  • Vincent Lau, The University of Sydney, Australia
  • Dr Leon van de Water, The University of Sydney, Australia
  • A/Prof Anthony Masters, The University of Sydney, Australia
  • Prof Thomas Maschmeyer, The University of Sydney, Australia

    • In recent years, ionic liquids have been recognized as effective nanoparticle stabilizers. Their low interface tension leads to high nucleation rates and thus very small particles can be synthesised. Our research group has synthesised cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (CdS) using methylimidazolium- and tetrabutylammonium-based ionic liquids in a simple, low temperature synthesis procedure, and the nanoparticles were immobilised in propylthiol-functionalised SBA 15. The samples were characterized with HRTEM, electron diffraction and UV-Vis analyses. The test reaction was the photocatalytic generation of hydrogen from an aqueous sulfide-sulfite sacrificial solution, using a mercury lamp as the source of irradiation, with the spectrum controlled by a set of cut-off filters (305 nm, 395 nm, 430 nm). We have found that the CdS samples have substantially higher hydrogen generation rates than the commercial bulk CdS reference, with the performance dependant on the functional groups of the ionic liquid.

    Figures: HR-TEM of CdS synthesised with tetrabutylammonium glycinate immobilised in propylthiol-functionalised SBA 15