Abstract

• Hydrogen production from water splitting under visible-light irradiation is considered as an ideal process to convert solar energy into renewable hydrogen energy and a promising technology to reduce fossil fuel consumption. In this research, Zn1-XCdXS derived metal organic framework was developed via an elementary hydrothermal method that was integrated with the calcination means. The different experimental parameters were employed to investigate the transformation of phase and morphology. The Zn0.7Cd0.3S nano material exhibited the higher hydrogen production rate of 14.1 mmol h-1g-1 under cocatalyst-free and visible-light irradiation conditions. Furthermore, these ZnCdS nano materials showed excellent long-term stability, maintaining high photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution over a number of cycles. This research work represents a simple strategy to fabricate visible-light responded ZnCdS derived from zeolitic-imidazolate-framework-8 (ZIF-8) and highlights the critical role for developing Z-scheme photocatalyst in solar energy conversion.