Hydrogen production on nano Al₂O₃ surface by water splitting using gamma radiation

Abstract

OBJECTIVES Due to changes in climate and the estimation of fossil fuel exploitation in the future, there is a great demand for green energy. Therefore, hydrogen production was studied by water splitting using Al2O3 nanoparticles as a radiation catalyst with gamma rays irradiation EXPERIMENTAL The effects of different particle sizes, surface area, amounts of radiation catalyst and the time of gamma rays irradiation were studied. The kinetics of hydrogen generated by the water decomposition of the water system with Al2O3 nanoparticles were also studied. It was determined that the hydrogen produced by water splitting with smaller‐sized nanoparticles was 1.4–1.6 times greater than the large‐sized catalysts. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The best conditions were 5 nm particle size, 250 mm2/g surface area, 0.25 g amount and 10 h time (5.97 molecules/100 eV). The equivalent dispersal of radiation nanocatalyst (alumina) in water and greatly more sorption of water on the catalyst surface caused more effective radiolysis. The mechanism of water splitting and radiolysis was also established. CONCLUSION The reported method may be used in the future for hydrogen production on an industrial scale. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).