Microwave-assisted synthesis of porous CdO–CdS core–shell nanoboxes with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic reduction of Cr(vi)

Porous CdO–CdS core–shell nanoboxes with uniform morphology and good structural stability were facilely prepared by microwave-assisted in situ surface sulfidation of CdCO3 nanocubes followed by annealing treatment. The as-obtained products exhibit much higher visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity in the reduction of aqueous Cr(VI) than pure CdS. It is believed that this novel strategy is highly scalable, and can be extended for the fabrication of other binary porous hybrids with well-defined non-spherical shapes on large scales by using perfect carbonate templates.