{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,4]],"date-time":"2026-10-04T21:12:36Z","timestamp":1791148356447,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,15]],"date-time":"2016-06-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1465948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"the National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["51236007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["51236007"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central University","award":["xjj2016039"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["xjj2016039"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ultrasonic spray pyrolysis is a superior method for preparing and synthesizing spherical particles of metal oxide or sulfide semiconductors. Cadmium sulfide (CdS) photocatalysts with different sizes and doped-CdS with different dopants and doping levels have been synthesized to study their properties of photocatalytic hydrogen production from water. The CdS photocatalysts were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray fluorescence-spectrometry (XRF), UV-Vis absorption spectra and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study their morphological and optical properties. The sizes of the prepared CdS particles were found to be proportional to the concentration of the metal nitrates in the solution. The CdS photocatalyst with smaller size showed a better photocatalytic activity. In addition, Cu doped CdS were also deposited and their photocatalytic activities were also investigated. Decreased bandgaps of CdS synthesized with this method were found and could be due to high density surface defects originated from Cd vacancies. Incorporating the Cu elements increased the bandgap by taking the position of Cd vacancies and reducing the surface defect states. The optimal Cu-doped level was found to be 0.5 mol % toward hydrogen evolution from aqueous media in the presence of sacrificial electron donors (Na2S and Na2SO3) at a pH of 13.2. This study demonstrated that ultrasonic spray pyrolysis is a feasible approach for large-scale photocatalyst synthesis and corresponding doping modification.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules21060735","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,15]],"date-time":"2016-06-15T14:11:19Z","timestamp":1465999879000},"page":"735","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":48,"title":["Photocatalytic Activities of Copper Doped Cadmium Sulfide Microspheres Prepared by a Facile Ultrasonic Spray-Pyrolysis Method"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1757-4900","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jinzhan","family":"Su","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xi\u2019an 710049, Shaanxi, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xi\u2019an 710049, Shaanxi, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yufeng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xi\u2019an 710049, Shaanxi, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yubin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xi\u2019an 710049, Shaanxi, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maochang","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, No. 28, Xianning West Road, Xi\u2019an 710049, Shaanxi, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1038\/238037a0","article-title":"Electrochemical Photolysis of Water at a semiconductor Electrode","volume":"238","author":"Fujishima","year":"1972","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1672","DOI":"10.1039\/c3cy00018d","article-title":"Metal sulphide semiconductors for photocatalytic hydrogen production","volume":"3","author":"Zhang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Catal. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Y., Feng, X., Liu, M., Su, J., and Shen, S. (2016). Towards efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion: Fundamentals and recent progress in copper-based chalcogenide photocathodes. Nanophotonics.","DOI":"10.1515\/nanoph-2016-0027"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1210","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.201410172","article-title":"One-pot Synthesis of CdS Nanocrystals Hybridized with Single-Layer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution","volume":"54","author":"Chen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Angew. Chem. Int. Ed."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"401","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules21040401","article-title":"From Nanorods to Nanowires of CdS Synthesized by a Solvothermal Method: Influence of the Morphology on the Photoactivity for Hydrogen Evolution from Water","volume":"21","author":"Vaquero","year":"2016","journal-title":"Molecules"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aad3317","article-title":"Self-photosensitization of nonphotosynthetic bacteria for solar-to-chemical production","volume":"351","author":"Sakimoto","year":"2016","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apcatb.2014.03.013","article-title":"Morphology-dependent photocatalytic H2-production activity of CdS","volume":"156","author":"Yu","year":"2014","journal-title":"Appl. Catal. B Environ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apcatb.2013.03.005","article-title":"Hierarchical porous CdS nanosheet-assembled flowers with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H2-production performance","volume":"138","author":"Xiang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Catal. B Environ."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10927","DOI":"10.1039\/c3ta12301d","article-title":"Single crystal CdS nanowires with high visible-light photocatalytic H2-production performance","volume":"1","author":"Jin","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. A"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcat.2013.02.026","article-title":"CdS-graphene nanocomposites as visible light photocatalyst for redox reactions in water: A green route for selective transformation and environmental remediation","volume":"303","author":"Zhang","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Catal."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"035603","DOI":"10.1088\/0957-4484\/25\/3\/035603","article-title":"Nano-CdS confined within titanate nanotubes for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light illumination","volume":"25","author":"Long","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nanotechnology"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3083","DOI":"10.1039\/c2ta00672c","article-title":"Novel C3N4-CdS composite photocatalysts with organic-inorganic heterojunctions: In situ synthesis, exceptional activity, high stability and photocatalytic mechanism","volume":"1","author":"Fu","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. A"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3733","DOI":"10.1021\/ja312653y","article-title":"Stable Hydrogen Evolution from CdS-Modified CuGaSe2 Photoelectrode under Visible-Light Irradiation","volume":"135","author":"Moriya","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3589","DOI":"10.1039\/c3ee42623h","article-title":"Highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation by solution-processed ZnO\/Pt\/CdS, ZnO\/Pt\/Cd1\u2212xZnxS and ZnO\/Pt\/CdS1\u2212xSex hybrid nanostructures","volume":"6","author":"Lingampalli","year":"2013","journal-title":"Energy Environ. Sci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4685","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhydene.2007.08.022","article-title":"Significantly improved photocatalytic hydrogen production activity over Cd1\u2212xZnxS photocatalysts prepared by a novel thermal sulfuration method","volume":"32","author":"Zhang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Hydrog. Energy"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, M., Jing, D., Zhou, Z., and Guo, L. (2013). Twin-induced one-dimensional homojunctions yield high quantum efficiency for solar hydrogen generation. Nat. Commun., 4.","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms3278"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.1021\/cm7029344","article-title":"Self-Templanted Synthesis of Nanoporous CdS Nanostructures for Highly Efficienct Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production under Visible Light","volume":"20","author":"Bao","year":"2008","journal-title":"Chem. Mater."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1007\/s11458-007-0020-x","article-title":"Preparation of CdS Nanopaticles by Hydrothemal Method in Microemulsion","volume":"2","author":"Zang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Front. Chem. China"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matchemphys.2014.03.044","article-title":"CdS microflowers and interpenetrated nanorods grown on Si substrate: Structural, optical properties and growth mechanism","volume":"146","author":"Murali","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mater. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"025006","DOI":"10.1088\/2043-6262\/5\/2\/025006","article-title":"Mechanistic aspects of biogenic synthesisof CdS nanoparticles using Bacillus licheniformis","volume":"5","author":"Tripathi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Adv. Nat. Sci. Nanosci. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S171","DOI":"10.1016\/j.surfcoat.2012.06.047","article-title":"Effects of deposition temperature on the performance of CdS films with chemical bath deposition","volume":"228","author":"Zhou","year":"2013","journal-title":"Surf. Coat. Tech."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1229","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1018540103359","article-title":"Preparation of ZnS and CdS fine particles with different particle sizes by a spray-pyrolysis method","volume":"32","author":"Okuyama","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1825","DOI":"10.1039\/c2cy20053h","article-title":"Template-free synthesis of ternary sulfides submicrospheres as visible light photocatalysts by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis","volume":"2","author":"Huang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Catal. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2013.10.053","article-title":"Growth of AgInS2 thin films by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique","volume":"550","author":"Sunil","year":"2014","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8695","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhydene.2015.05.019","article-title":"Role of aliovalent cation doping in the activity of nanocrystalline CdS for visible-light-driven H2 production from water","volume":"40","author":"Korake","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Hydrog. Energy"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5018","DOI":"10.1021\/ja711023z","article-title":"The electronic origin of the visible-light absorption properties of C-, N- and S-doped TiO2 nanomaterials","volume":"130","author":"Chen","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20782","DOI":"10.1039\/c3ra42445f","article-title":"Enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability of semiconductor by Ag doping and simultaneous deposition: The case of CdS","volume":"3","author":"Huang","year":"2013","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xie, R., Su, J., Li, M., and Guo, L. (2013). Structural and Photoelectrochemical Properties of Cu-Doped CdS Thin Films Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis. Int. J. Photoenergy.","DOI":"10.1155\/2013\/620134"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jallcom.2012.12.136","article-title":"Structural, optical and electrical properties of Ni-doped CdS thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis","volume":"557","author":"Rmili","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Alloy. Compd."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tauc, J. (1974). Amorphous And Liquid Semiconductors, Plenum Press.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4615-8705-7"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1016\/j.solmat.2004.01.002","article-title":"Grain size dependence of the bandgap in chemical bath deposited CdS thin films","volume":"82","author":"Cortes","year":"2004","journal-title":"Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1304","DOI":"10.1063\/1.372014","article-title":"First-principles calculation of band offsets, optical bowings, and defects in CdS, CdSe, CdTe, and their alloys","volume":"87","author":"Wei","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"96","article-title":"Estimation of the size and internal structure of colloidal particles by means of r\u00f6ntgen","volume":"2","author":"Scherrer","year":"1918","journal-title":"Nachr. Ges. Wiss. G\u00f6ttingen"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114703","DOI":"10.1063\/1.2888930","article-title":"Orange-red luminescence from Cu doped CdS nanophosphor prepared using mixed Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers","volume":"128","author":"Mandal","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2012.12.160","article-title":"Low-temperature synthesis of hexagonal transition metal ion doped ZnS nanoparticles by a simple colloidal method","volume":"270","author":"Wang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1571","DOI":"10.1021\/jp973046w","article-title":"Fabrication and char-acterization of CdS-nanoparticle mono- and multilayers on a self-assembled monolayer of alkanedithiols on gold","volume":"102","author":"Nakanishi","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. B"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7315","DOI":"10.1063\/1.453325","article-title":"PbS in polymers. From molecules to bulk solids","volume":"87","author":"Wang","year":"1987","journal-title":"J. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1006\/spmi.1999.0794","article-title":"Self-assembly and photoluminescence of CdS-mercaphtoacetic clusters with internal structures","volume":"27","author":"Chen","year":"2000","journal-title":"Superlattice Microst."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1016\/S0038-1098(97)10075-8","article-title":"Formation, structure and fluorescence of CdS clusters in a mesoporous zeolite","volume":"105","author":"Chen","year":"1998","journal-title":"Solid State Commun."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-3093(02)01026-8","article-title":"Luminescence properties of nanocrystalline CdS and CdS: Mn2+ doped silica-type glasses","volume":"304","author":"Costa","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Non-Cryst. Solids"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5086","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2012.01.131","article-title":"Carrier recombination in Cu doped CdS thin films: Photocurrent and optical studies","volume":"258","author":"Panda","year":"2012","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.1016\/S0169-4332(01)00147-7","article-title":"XPS analysis of p-type Cu-doped CdS thin films","volume":"175","author":"Abe","year":"2001","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1170","DOI":"10.1143\/JJAP.31.1170","article-title":"p-Type characteristics of Cu-doped CdS thin films","volume":"31","author":"Kashiwaba","year":"1992","journal-title":"Jpn. J. Appl. Phys."}],"container-title":["Molecules"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1420-3049\/21\/6\/735\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T19:25:30Z","timestamp":1760210730000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1420-3049\/21\/6\/735"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,15]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,6]]}},"alternative-id":["molecules21060735"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/molecules21060735","relation":{},"ISSN":["1420-3049"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1420-3049","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,15]]}}}