Issue 16, 2012

Nano-ferrites for water splitting: unprecedented high photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light

Abstract

In the present investigation, hydrogen production via water splitting by nano-ferrites was studied using ethanol as the sacrificial donor and Pt as co-catalyst. Nano-ferrite is emerging as a promising photocatalyst with a hydrogen evolution rate of 8.275 μmol h−1 and a hydrogen yield of 8275 μmol h−1 g−1 under visible light compared to 0.0046 μmol h−1 for commercial iron oxide (tested under similar experimental conditions). Nano-ferrites were tested in three different photoreactor configurations. The rate of hydrogen evolution by nano-ferrite was significantly influenced by the photoreactor configuration. Altering the reactor configuration led to sevenfold (59.55 μmol h−1) increase in the hydrogen evolution rate. Nano-ferrites have shown remarkable stability in hydrogen production up to 30 h and the cumulative hydrogen evolution rate was observed to be 98.79 μmol h−1. The hydrogen yield was seen to be influenced by several factors like photocatalyst dose, illumination intensity, irradiation time, sacrificial donor and presence of co-catalyst. These were then investigated in detail. It was evident from the experimental data that nano-ferrites under optimized reaction conditions and photoreactor configuration could lead to remarkable hydrogen evolution activity under visible light. Temperature had a significant role in enhancing the hydrogen yield.

Graphical abstract: Nano-ferrites for water splitting: unprecedented high photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Apr 2012
Accepted
12 May 2012
First published
31 May 2012

Nanoscale, 2012,4, 5202-5209

Nano-ferrites for water splitting: unprecedented high photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light

P. A. Mangrulkar, V. Polshettiwar, N. K. Labhsetwar, R. S. Varma and S. S. Rayalu, Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 5202 DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30819C

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