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Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution
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Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Photocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2020) | Viewed by 25588

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Antonella Profumo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Interests: concentration and determination of pollutants in various matrices; hydrogen gas production from water and sacrificial biomasses; application of in lab prepared photocatalysts; recovery of valuable raw materials; chemical characterization of products; ICP-OES and ICP-MS; chromatographic techniques
Dr. Andrea Speltini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: environmental analysis; emerging pollutants; carbon materials; sample treatment; renewable energy; photocatalysis; green hydrogen production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing demand for renewable energy sources has in recent years resulted in many efforts towards the usage of hydrogen as a clean energy vector. In this framework, photocatalysis is emerging as a low-cost, clean, and safe technology to perform reactions for a variety of applications, including H2 production from water, only requiring a light source as a driving force, and a suitable semiconductor as a photocatalyst. Several photocatalytic systems have been proposed so far that exploit inorganic catalysts, e.g. titanium dioxide under UV/visible light, but with relatively low efficiency and selectivity towards H2 evolution under solar radiation.

In the last years, great interest has been attracted by organic semiconductors, for instance graphitic carbon nitride materials. The current research in H2 photoproduction is addressed to improving the photocatalytic activity of both conventional and new photocatalysts, to exploit alternative and more sustainable co-catalysts, and to combine different semiconductors in heterojunction systems. Catalyst morphology tuning and surface modification are the key points to enlarge visible light harvesting, minimizing charge carry recombination for a rewarding H2 production. At the same time, the sustainability of the overall process, which would be strengthened by exploiting sacrificial biomass, really deserves more attention.

We invite the submission of original papers reporting on significant advances in the preparation and application of novel semiconductor materials for photocatalytic H2 evolution from water. In particular, papers describing new routes for obtaining nanocomposites with improved photocatalytic activity under solar light and research papers focusing on the development and optimization of hydrogen-producing photocatalytic systems from (waste) biomass are particularly encouraged

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Synthesis and characterization of new nanocomposite materials for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water
  • Investigation of non-noble metals and/or semiconductors as co-catalysts
  • Valorization of (waste) biomass as a sacrificial agent
  • Development of efficient phototocatalytic systems for H2 production under solar light
  • Multivariate approaches for the optimization of H2 evolution

Prof. Dr. Antonella Profumo
Dr. Andrea Speltini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Nanocomposite photocatalysts
  • Novel photocatalytic materials
  • Co-catalysts
  • Water splitting
  • Solar energy conversion
  • Biomass
  • Green H2 production

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

2 pages, 162 KiB  
Editorial
Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution
by Antonella Profumo and Andrea Speltini
Catalysts 2021, 11(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11010093 - 12 Jan 2021
Viewed by 1124
Abstract
The constant growth of energy demand joined with the adverse effects on the global environment induced by use of fossil fuels is increasingly requiring new routes to obtain clean and renewable energy sources [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution)

Research

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11 pages, 1818 KiB  
Article
Carbon Nitride-Perovskite Composites: Evaluation and Optimization of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution in Saccharides Aqueous Solution
by Andrea Speltini, Lidia Romani, Daniele Dondi, Lorenzo Malavasi and Antonella Profumo
Catalysts 2020, 10(11), 1259; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10111259 - 30 Oct 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 2713
Abstract
The application of hybrid photocatalysts made of carbon nitride and lead-free perovskites, namely DMASnBr3/g-C3N4 and PEA2SnBr4/g-C3N4, for the H2 evolution from saccharides aqueous solution is described. The novel composites [...] Read more.
The application of hybrid photocatalysts made of carbon nitride and lead-free perovskites, namely DMASnBr3/g-C3N4 and PEA2SnBr4/g-C3N4, for the H2 evolution from saccharides aqueous solution is described. The novel composites were tested and compared in terms of hydrogen evolution rate (HER) under simulated solar light, using Pt as a reference co-catalyst, and glucose as a representative sacrificial biomass. The conditions were optimized to maximize H2 generation by a design of experiments involving catalyst amount, glucose concentration and Pt loading. For both materials, such parameters affected significantly H2 photogeneration, with the best performance observed using 0.5 g L−1 catalyst, 0.2 M glucose and 0.5 wt% Pt. Under optimized conditions, DMASnBr3/g-C3N4 showed a 5-fold higher HER compared to PEA2SnBr4/g-C3N4, i.e., 925 µmoles g−1 h−1 and 190 µmoles g−1 h−1, respectively (RSD ≤ 11%, n = 4). The former composite, which affords an HER 15-fold higher in aqueous glucose than in neat water, provided H2 also with no metal co-catalyst (around 140 µmoles g−1 h−1), and it was reusable for at least three photoreactions. Encouraging results were also collected by explorative tests on raw starch solution (around 150 µmoles g−1 h−1). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution)
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18 pages, 4078 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Hydrogen Production from Ethanol Photoreforming by Site-Specific Deposition of Au on Cu2O/TiO2 p-n Junction
by Lan Luo, Tingting Zhang, Xin Zhang, Rongping Yun, Yanjun Lin, Bing Zhang and Xu Xiang
Catalysts 2020, 10(5), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10050539 - 13 May 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3495
Abstract
Hydrogen production by photoreforming of biomass-derived ethanol is a renewable way of obtaining clean fuel. We developed a site-specific deposition strategy to construct supported Au catalysts by rationally constructing Ti3+ defects inTiO2 nanorods and Cu2O-TiO2 p-n junction across [...] Read more.
Hydrogen production by photoreforming of biomass-derived ethanol is a renewable way of obtaining clean fuel. We developed a site-specific deposition strategy to construct supported Au catalysts by rationally constructing Ti3+ defects inTiO2 nanorods and Cu2O-TiO2 p-n junction across the interface of two components. The Au nanoparticles (~2.5 nm) were selectively anchored onto either TiO2 nanorods (Au@TiO2/Cu2O) or Cu2O nanocubes (Au@Cu2O/TiO2) or both TiO2 and Cu2O (Au@TiO2/Cu2O@Au) with the same Au loading. The electronic structure of supported Au species was changed by forming Au@TiO2 interface due to the adjacent Ti3+ defects and the associated oxygen vacancies while unchanged in Au@Cu2O/TiO2 catalyst. The p-n junction of TiO2/Cu2O promoted charge separation and transfer across the junction. During ethanol photoreforming, Au@TiO2/Cu2O catalyst possessing both the Au@TiO2 interface and the p-n junction showed the highest H2 production rate of 8548 μmol gcat−1 h−1 under simulated solar light, apparently superior to both Au@TiO2 and Au@Cu2O/TiO2 catalyst. The acetaldehyde was produced in liquid phase at an almost stoichiometric rate, and C−C cleavage of ethanol molecules to form CH4 or CO2 was greatly inhibited. Extensive spectroscopic results support the claim that Au adjacent to surface Ti3+ defects could be active sites for H2 production and p-n junction of TiO2/Cu2O facilitates photo-generated charge transfer and further dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde during the photoreforming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution)
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14 pages, 4352 KiB  
Article
A 3D Hierarchical Pancake-Like Porous Carbon Nitride for Highly Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic H2 Evolution
by Xiaobin Qiu, Lingfang Qiu, Mengfan Ma, Yingying Hou and Shuwang Duo
Catalysts 2020, 10(1), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10010077 - 04 Jan 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2278
Abstract
Polymeric carbon nitride is a fascinating visible-light-response metal-free semiconductor photocatalyst in recent decades. Nevertheless, the photocatalytic H2 efficiency is unsatisfactory due to the insufficient visible-light harvesting capacity and low quantum yields caused by the bulky structure seriously limited its applications. To overcome [...] Read more.
Polymeric carbon nitride is a fascinating visible-light-response metal-free semiconductor photocatalyst in recent decades. Nevertheless, the photocatalytic H2 efficiency is unsatisfactory due to the insufficient visible-light harvesting capacity and low quantum yields caused by the bulky structure seriously limited its applications. To overcome these defects, in this research, a 3D hierarchical pancake-like porous carbon nitride (PPCN) was successfully fabricated by a facile bottom-up method. The as-prepared photocatalyst exhibit enlarged surface area, enriched reactive sites, improved charge carrier transformation and separation efficiency, and expanded bandgap with a more negative conduction band towardan enhanced reduction ability. All these features synergistically enhanced the photocatalytic H2 evolution efficiency of 3% Pt@PPCN (430 µmol g−1 h−1) under the visible light illumination (λ ≥ 420 nm), which was nine-fold higher than that of 3% Pt@bulk C3N4 (BCN) (45 µmol g−1 h−1). The improved structure and enhanced photoelectric properties were systematically investigated by different characterization techniques. This research may provide an insightful synthesis strategy for polymeric carbon nitride with excellent light-harvesting capacity and enhanced separation of charges toward remarkable photocatalytic H2 for water splitting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution)
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12 pages, 3078 KiB  
Article
Photoelectrocatalytic Hydrogen Production Using a TiO2/WO3 Bilayer Photocatalyst in the Presence of Ethanol as a Fuel
by Panagiotis Marios Adamopoulos, Ioannis Papagiannis, Dimitrios Raptis and Panagiotis Lianos
Catalysts 2019, 9(12), 976; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9120976 - 21 Nov 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6007
Abstract
Photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production was studied by using a photoelectrochemical cell where the photoanode was made by depositing on FTO electrodes either a nanoparticulate WO3 film alone or a bilayer film made of nanoparticulate WO3 at the bottom covered with a nanoparticulate [...] Read more.
Photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production was studied by using a photoelectrochemical cell where the photoanode was made by depositing on FTO electrodes either a nanoparticulate WO3 film alone or a bilayer film made of nanoparticulate WO3 at the bottom covered with a nanoparticulate TiO2 film on the top. Both the electric current and the hydrogen produced by the photoelectrocatalysis cell substantially increased by adding the top titania layer. The presence of this layer did not affect the current-voltage characteristics of the cell (besides the increase of the current density). This was an indication that the flow of electrons in the combined semiconductor photoanode was through the WO3 layer. The increase of the current was mainly attributed to the passivation of the surface recombination sites on WO3 contributing to the limitation of charge recombination mechanisms. In addition, the top titania layer may have contributed to photon absorption by back scattering of light and thus by enhancement of light absorption by WO3. Relatively high charge densities were recorded, owing both to the improvement of the photoanode by the combined photocatalyst and to the presence of ethanol as the sacrificial agent (fuel), which affected the recorded current by “current doubling” phenomena. Hydrogen was produced under electric bias using a simple cathode electrode made of carbon paper carrying carbon black as the electrocatalyst. This electrode gave a Faradaic efficiency of 58% for hydrogen production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution)
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Review

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35 pages, 4111 KiB  
Review
Two-Dimensional Materials and Composites as Potential Water Splitting Photocatalysts: A Review
by Zubia Saleem, Erum Pervaiz, M. Usman Yousaf and M. Bilal Khan Niazi
Catalysts 2020, 10(4), 464; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10040464 - 24 Apr 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 9287
Abstract
Hydrogen production via water dissociation under exposure to sunlight has emanated as an environmentally friendly, highly productive and expedient process to overcome the energy production and consumption gap, while evading the challenges of fossil fuel depletion and ecological contamination. Various classes of materials [...] Read more.
Hydrogen production via water dissociation under exposure to sunlight has emanated as an environmentally friendly, highly productive and expedient process to overcome the energy production and consumption gap, while evading the challenges of fossil fuel depletion and ecological contamination. Various classes of materials are being explored as viable photocatalysts to achieve this purpose, among which, the two-dimensional materials have emerged as prominent candidates, having the intrinsic advantages of visible light sensitivity; structural and chemical tuneability; extensively exposed surface area; and flexibility to form composites and heterostructures. In an abridged manner, the common types of 2D photocatalysts, their position as potential contenders in photocatalytic processes, their derivatives and their modifications are described herein, as it all applies to achieving the coveted chemical and physical properties by fine-tuning the synthesis techniques, precursor ingredients and nano-structural alterations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards Green, Enhanced Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution)
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