Highly efficient colloidal MnxCd1−xS nanorod solid solution for photocatalytic hydrogen generation

In this study, a series of MnxCd1−xS nanorods solid solutions featuring precisely controlled band gap and suitable conduction band position were fabricated for the first time with a hot-injection synthesis under N2 atmosphere. Correspondingly, the colloidal Mn0.5Cd0.5S solid solution exhibited the highest photocatalytic H2 generation rate of 26 000 μmol g−1 h−1 and the apparent quantum efficiency of 30.3% at 400 nm, which is approximately 216 times higher than that of pristine h-CdS and 565 times higher than that of γ-MnS alone. Moreover, the MnxCd1−xS solid solution showed good photocatalytic stability because of a proper conduction band position and high crystallinity. This work demonstrates that this hot-injection strategy for developing highly efficient MnxCd1−xS solid solution is promising for preparing other binary or multicomponent solid solutions for a variety of photocatalytic applications.