Incorporation of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles on the cadmium titanate nanofibers for enhanced organic dye degradation and hydrogen release

In this study, the effective cadmium sulfide NPs were successfully encapsulated on cadmium titanate electrospun nanofibers. Calcination of electrospun nanofiber mats composed of titanium isopropoxide, poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and cadmium acetate dihydrate with few drops of ammonium sulfide in air at 600 °C led to the production of good morphology of CdS decorated cadmium titanate nanofibers. The morphology and structure of as-synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). As-synthesized nanocomposites exhibited a strong photocatalytic activity for decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under visible light and showed good hydrogen release from hydrolysis of the ammonia–borane complex. The perfect recovery of catalyst after reaction and its unchanged efficiency for cyclic use showed that it will be an economically and environmentally friendly photocatalyst. The results indicated that the CdS/CdTiO3 photocatalysts possess improved photocatalytic activity than that of CdTiO3 alone.