Directing the CdS nanosheet and nanowire to high efficiency for photocatalytic anaerobic dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde by depositing Au₂₅ nanoclusters

The photocatalysis of direct dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde is an energy saving way to synthesize fine chemicals and pure hydrogen by using solar energy. The CdS-based catalysts were one of the typical kinds of photocatalysts for this reaction. The morphology of CdS could be easily tuned, which could greatly influence the photocatalytic performances. However, the morphology effect of CdS on the photocatalytic behaviour of the direct dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol has not been investigated yet. In this work, we synthesized CdS with two different morphologies (nanosheet (NS) and nanowire (NW)) and found the CdS-NS showed much higher photocatalytic activity for converting the benzyl alcohol than the CdS-NW, but the selectivity to benzaldehyde over the two supports was very low. By depositing Au₂₅ nanoclusters on the CdS-NW and CdS-NS, the morphology effect of the CdS support could be mitigated and their catalytic activity and selectivity could be greatly boosted for the photocatalytic anaerobic dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and H₂. The results of this work would provide new insight into the design of efficient photocatalysts for synthesizing fine chemicals.