Efficient self-assembly synthesis of LaPO₄/CdS hierarchical heterostructure with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic CO₂ reduction

Root nodule-like LaPO₄/CdS hierarchical heterostructures were constructed via in-situ growth of LaPO₄ microspheres on the surface of CdS nanorods to remarkably enhance CO₂ reduction under visible light. The self-assembly strategy allows intimate interfacial contact between LaPO₄ and CdS, greatly facilitating the separation and transfer of photo-generated charge, which lifetime is increased from 18.6 ns to 48.5 ns. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of the enhanced CO₂ adsorption and promoted visible light absorption, the optimized LaPO₄/CdS photocatalyst shows excellent CO₂ reduction performance with CO generation rate of 960 μmol⋅h⁻¹⋅g⁻¹, which is 3.9 times greater than the pure CdS nanorods. Moreover, considerable stability can be observed in LaPO₄/CdS heterostructure photocatalysts. The current work provides a simple self-assembly approach to build 3D-1D semiconductor composites for artificial photosynthesis.