No abstract

In this study, the effect of drying techniques on properties of Pt/CrÀ Ta : SrTiO 3 catalysts in photocatalytic water splitting reaction were investigated. Drying techniques directly affected platinum particle size, which influenced the Pt phases and optical properties, all of which impact the activity of photocatalysts. The performances of Pt/CrÀ Ta : SrTiO 3 catalysts were in the following order: microwave > infrared > sonication > rotary evaporation > hot-air oven. Among these techniques, microwave drying was the most efficient, providing high surface area, small platinum particle size and high percentage of platinum (II) oxide, which in turn led to the outstanding apparent quantum yield of H 2 per energy consumption (22.4 %/KWh), which was 5.7, 5.7, 44.8 and 9.3 times higher than that of infrared, sonication, rotary evaporation and hot-air oven, respectively. This result indicated that microwave technique provided efficient rapid and uniform heating rate with low energy consumption, leading to lowering the operating time period and cost.[a] Dr.