Hierarchically 1D CdS decorated on 2D perovskite‐type La 2 Ti 2 O 7 nanosheet hybrids with enhanced photocatalytic performance

In this paper, a heterojunction of hierarchically one‐dimensional (1D) cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowires decorated on the two‐dimensional (2D) La 2 Ti 2 O 7 (LTO) has been fabricated by a simple two‐step hydrothermal process. The structure, morphology and surface chemical composition of CdS/LTO were studied by a variety of characterizations, in which the X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed a strong interaction between CdS and LTO through S–O bonds. The type II band alignment of CdS/LTO for favorable electron transfer from CdS to LTO and hole transfer from LTO to CdS was clarified by ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and Mott–Schottky (M–S) plot measurements. In the absence of any co‐catalyst, H 2 production from water splitting and Rhodamine B (RhB) decomposition in aqueous solution were carried out to evaluate the photocatalytic activities, showing that the photocatalytic performance of CdS/LTO was superior to that of pure LTO and CdS under visible light and simulated sunlight. The optimal CdS content in the CdS/LTO system was determined to be 7.5 wt%. The present results show an effective pathway to design a 1D/2D heterojunction photocatalyst in the face of overwhelming problems of energy crisis and environmental pollution.