Hydrogen Production from Semiconductor-based Photocatalysis via Water Splitting

Abstract

Abstract:Hydrogen is the ideal fuel for the future because it is clean, energy efficient, and abundant in nature. While various technologies can be used to generate hydrogen, only some of them can be considered environmentally friendly. Recently, solar hydrogen generated via photocatalytic water splitting has attracted tremendous attention and has been extensively studied because of its great potential for low-cost and clean hydrogen production. This paper gives a comprehensive review of the development of photocatalytic water splitting for generating hydrogen, particularly under visible-light irradiation. The topics covered include an introduction of hydrogen production technologies, a review of photocatalytic water splitting over titania and non-titania based photocatalysts, a discussion of the types of photocatalytic water-splitting approaches, and a conclusion for the current challenges and future prospects of photocatalytic water splitting. Based on the literatures reported here, the development of highly stable visible-light-active photocatalytic materials, and the design of efficient, low-cost photoreactor systems are the key for the advancement of solar-hydrogen production via photocatalytic water splitting in the future.

Hydrogen Generation through Solar Photocatalytic Processes: A Review of the Configuration and the Properties of Effective Metal-Based Semiconductor Nanomaterials

“…Photocatalytic water splitting can be also achieved by coupling catalysts for oxygen (i.e., BiVO 4 ) and hydrogen (i.e., doped SrTiO 3 ) production [94].…”

Au/TiO2-CeO2 Catalysts for Photocatalytic Water Splitting and VOCs Oxidation Reactions

“…During this time, photocatalysis with TiO 2 was applied with various success to several reactions, among them H 2 production by water splitting or abatement of undesired and harmful organic compounds in air or water [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. The good quantum yield and stability, high oxidative power, low cost and easy production [9][10][11] are the key reasons for the success of TiO 2 .…”

“…In this field the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) in the presence of TiO 2 to give total or partial oxidation of liquid or gaseous contaminants to benign substances is one of the most promising environmentally friendly techniques for the abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [14,15]. In fact, the formation of electron-hole pairs on TiO 2 by light irradiation with a suitable light source plays a key role in the mineralization of VOCs into CO 2 and H 2 O. For all samples it is possible to note that, after a short induction period (around 10 min), due to the stabilization of lamp irradiation and/or water saturation with evolved gases [36], hydrogen production firstly undergoes an almost linear increment for up to 40 min, followed by a moderate decrease of the production rate.…”

Facile synthesis of copper oxide nanotubes decorated by TiO2nanoparticles, optical and photocatalytic activity in water

“…[1] Various photocatalysts have been developed for the photocatalytic water splitting, but titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is still most widely used as a photocatalyst because of its high resistance to photocorrosion, stability in aqueous solution and low cost as well as high hydrogen production rate. [2] The specific surface area of the photocatalyst influences the efficiency of the heterogeneous catalytic reaction through more photoelectrons and photo holes reaching onto the surface.…”