Short Communication TiO 2 /CdS composite hollow spheres with controlled synthesis of platinum on the internal wall for the efficient hydrogen evolution Xiaofeng Cui a , Guiyuan Jiang a, *, Ming Zhu b,c , Zhen Zhao a , Luchao Du b,c , Yuxiang Weng b,c , Chunming Xu a, **, Dekai Zhang a , Quanlai Zhang a , Yuechang Wei a , Aijun Duan a , Jian Liu a , Jinsen Gao a a State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China b Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China c National Laboratory of the Condensed Matter Physics, Beijing 100080, China article info Article history: Received 18 March 2013 Received in revised form 9 May 2013 Accepted 11 May 2013 Available online 13 June 2013 Keywords: Hollow spheres Photocatalysis Water splitting Semiconductors abstract Solar driven semiconductor photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen is an extremely charming process by storing photon energy in chemical bonds. In the present study, composite semiconductor TiO 2 /CdS was structured into uniform and porous double- shelled hollow sphere with cocatalyst platinum selectively loaded onto the internal wall. The SEM, TEM, STEM, XRD, BET and EDS elemental distribution etc. were employed to evidence the formation of the targeted photocatalyst. It was demonstrated that the ma- terial has a high efficiency of visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution (296 mmol$h 1 /10 mg) with an apparent quantum efficiency (QE) of 14.5% at wavelength of 420 nm. Comparative experiment analysis and time-resolved infrared absorption study suggested that the high photocatalytic activity of the catalyst is attributed to the vectorial electron transfer (CdS / TiO 2 / Pt) and the spatial separation of reduction and oxidation active surfaces achieved by the special morphology. Copyright ª 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Compared with that from conventional fossil fuels, solar driven photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen is extremely charming due to the unique advantages of clean, renewable and sustainable ways [1e6]. It has been considered as a potential solution to the worldwide energy shortage and environmental pollution [7]. The design and development of efficient photocatalyst is a critical issue in photocatalytic water splitting, and it requires synergistic integration of a series of functions into a microsystem dealing with the sub- tasks involving light absorption, electron transfer/separa- tion, and the subsequent catalysis, etc. Among a wide variety of photocatalyst systems, composite semiconductors * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 10 8973 2290; fax: þ86 10 6972 4721. ** Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 10 8973 3392; fax: þ86 10 6972 4721. E-mail addresses: jianggy@cup.edu.cn (G. Jiang), xcm@cup.edu.cn (C. Xu). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy 38 (2013) 9065 e9073 0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright ª 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.05.062