Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin.

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Constructing back-to-back Schottky-Ohmic series heterojunction in triaxial TiO2/Pt/CdS nanofibers via one-step electrospinning for efficient H2 evolution

Ming Li1,2, Haiyan Zhang1, Youji Li1,2, Zi Zhu1, Danqi Tang1, Ziyou Xiang1, Jianmin Luo3, Xiao Lin1,2, Jia Zhao4   

  1. 1 College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jishou University, Jishou 416000, Hunan Province, China;
    2 Key Laboratory of Mineral Cleaner Production and Exploit of Green Functional Materials in Hunan Province, Jishou 416000, Hunan Province, China;
    3 School of Chemistry and Civil Engineering, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005, Guangdong Province, China;
    4 College of Chemistry, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, Liaoning Province, China
  • Received:2026-08-17 Revised:2026-09-26 Accepted:2026-09-28
  • Contact: Youji Li, Jia Zhao E-mail:bccLyj@jsu.edu.cn;zhaojia19870911@163.com

Abstract: Achieving effective separation and efficient utilization of photogenerated charge carriers remains a critical challenge for achieving high-performance photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, for which fabricating heterojunctions has emerged as a promising strategy, yet the rational design of the internal heterojunction configuration plays a dominant role in determining the photocatalytic performance of multicomponent composite materials. In this work, a novel ternary composite featuring a back-to-back Schottky-Ohmic series heterojunction was elaborately designed and fabricated via a facile one-step triaxial electrospinning strategy, where metallic Pt was precisely inserted as an interlayer between TiO2 and CdS to form a unique triaxial nanofiber structure. The optimized Ti/Pt600/Cd composite exhibits outstanding photocatalytic H2 evolution rates of 5.60 mmol g-1 h-1 under full-spectrum irradiation and 4.51 mmol g-1 h-1 under visible light (≥ 420 nm), which are approximately 26.9 and 13.5 times higher than those of pristine TiO2 and CdS, respectively. This substantial improvement in photocatalytic activity is predominantly attributed to the following aspects: (i) the Schottky-Ohmic junction significantly accelerates interfacial charge transfer and effectively suppresses the backflow of photogenerated electrons from Pt to the CdS semiconductors, thereby prolonging the carrier lifetime; (ii) the unique back-to-back heterojunction architecture substantially shortens the charge transport distance; and (iii) the Pt interlayer, with its hig h electron density, serves as active sites for H+ adsorption and subsequent reduction. This work not only reports a ternary composite nanofiber material with a novel structural configuration, but also establishes a versatile and scalable synthetic strategy that can be readily extended to other material systems, thereby opening up new avenues for the practical deployment of photocatalytic technology in solar energy conversion.

Key words: Triaxial electrospinning, Schottky-Ohmic, Z-scheme heterojunction, TiO2/Pt/CdS, Photocatalytic H2 evolution