Solar hydrogen production from aqueous solutions of ethanol at near ambient tem...

• Autor(es): Rangel, C. M. ; Silva, R. A. ; Fernandes, Vitor R. ; Paiva, T. I.
• Data: 2008
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/411
• Origem: Repositório do LNEG
• Assunto(s): Photo-catalytic; Hydrogen production; Doped-titanium dioxide; Ethanol
• Tipo de Documento: Documento de conferência
• Idioma: Inglês

Descrição

Nanostructured semi-conductor materials based on titanium dioxide, with effective photo-catalytic properties under UV illumination, were synthesized using sol-gel technology and characterized by X-Ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, with the objective of studying the photo-catalytic hydrogen production from water. The need to decrease the electron-hole recombination rate was accounted for by metal doping and the addition of ethanol as a hole trap. Aqueous suspensions of the semiconductor powders, with noble metal loadings (Pt) of 1.5 wt% were used and the effect of solution pH and temperature (20-70ºC) on hydrogen production were studied, for a selected catalyst concentration. Hydrogen production rates were found to be linear with solution temperature with values larger than published literature data.