A general guide for adsorption of cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) for efficient CdS-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells

•A general guideline is suggested for preparing efficient CdS photosensitizer on mesoporous TiO2 film electrode by well-known successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process.•The most critical parameter for controlling the extent of CdS adsorption is an electrostatic interaction between intrinsic (+)-charge of metal cation (Cd2+) and induced (−)-charge of TiO2 surface which is generated by the degree of solution’s pH above the point of zero charge (pzc) of TiO2.•A mixture of water and alcoholic solvent can be beneficial for enhancing the adsorption of CdS by alcohol’s anti-solvent effect or more penetration into a deep pore of mesoporous film.•With less repeated cycles for optimized amounts of CdS sensitizers on TiO2 film, the cadmium acetate-dissolved bath with triethanolamine (TEA) for Cd2+ source gives the best results in both CdS-sensitized solar cells and H2-generation photoelectrochemical cells.