The application of prepared hybrids for hydrogen production
One of the applicative issues that will be addressed in the HYDIS project concerns the photocatalytic performance of the prepared hybrids. In recent years, we have developed a novel strategy involving the production of ICT complexes to expand metal-oxide absorption into a more useful area of the solar spectrum. The ICT-based metal oxide hybrids decorated with Ag NPs can initiate photocatalytic reduction and oxidation processes. A literature survey indicates that photocatalytic oxidation processes are mainly studied (about 95% of publications), frequently using the degradation of organic dyes as a test system due to the simplicity of experimentally following reaction kinetics.
Hydrogen production: We plan to investigate the efficiency of the water-splitting reaction and the lack of knowledge regarding photocatalytic hydrogen production over these hybrid materials, considering hydrogen as a future fuel. The two types of light sources will be used for excitations. First, we will use monochromatic light for excitation to validate our hypothesis, which is significant for fundamental reasons: that the ICT-based metal oxide hybrids coated with Ag NPs can only operate under visible light. Second, we will use a light source mimicking the solar spectrum to estimate the potential applicability of prepared hybrids by comparing hydrogen yield with data obtained with other photocatalytic materials. Our goal is to achieve higher efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production with hybrid nanostructures based on CeO2 and ZrO2 compared to the most studied P25 TiO2 photocatalyst.
Characterization and methods: We will quantify photocatalytic hydrogen production using a gas chromatograph equipped with a thermal conductivity detector and molecular sieve column. For monochromatic excitation, we will use various light-emitting diodes (LED), while white light will mimic the proper combination of LEDs or lamps with a spectral profile matching the solar spectrum. The institutions of the participants have all the equipment required for photocatalytic studies.