• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

The production of oxygen and hydrogen from solar water splitting has been considered to be an ultimate solution for energy and environmental issues, and over the past few years, nano-sized semiconducting metal oxides alone and with graphene have been shown to have great promise for use in photocatalytic water splitting. It is challenging to find ideal materials for photoelectrochemical water splitting, and these have limited commercial applicability due to critical factors, including their physico-chemical properties, the rate of charge-carrier recombination and limited light absorption. This review article discusses these main features, and recent research progress and major factors affect the performance of the water splitting reaction. The mechanism behind these interactions in transition metal oxides and graphene based nano-structured semiconductors upon illumination has been discussed in detail, and such characteristics are relevant to the design of materials with a superior photocatalytic response towards UV and visible light.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.588-588
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• 2012

Zn-doped $TiO_2$ mesoporous microspheres with high photocatalytic activity were synthesized via combined sol-gel and solvothermal methods for photocatalytic water splitting. It is found that the photocatalytic water splitting and photocatalytic degradation activity can be enhanced by doping an appropriate amount of Zn. Our results reveal that Zn doping inhibits the recombination of photo-generated charge carriers of $TiO_2$ and improves the probability of photo-generated charge carrier separation and hence the photocatalytic activity of $TiO_2$.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 2014

Photocatalytic hydrogen generation by water splitting ($H_2O_{(1)}{\rightarrow}H_2_{(g)}+1/2O_2_{(g)}$) has been studied on photocatalysts based on Zn, Cd, Fe and Cu, synthesized by coprecipitation. Iron and copper nanoparticles were incorporated as cocatalysts to enhance the photocatalytic activity of the ZnCd solid solution. The effect of the different synthesis parameters (temperature, elemental atomic ratios, amount of Cu and Fe incorporated in the catalyst and calcination temperature) on the photocatalytic production of hydrogen has been studied in order to determine the best experimental synthesis conditions. The catalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and BET. The experiments of photocatalytic water splitting were performed in aqueous solution of the photocatalysts previously dispersed in a soft ultrasound bath. The photocatalysts were irradiated under different lights ranging from 220 to 700 nm. The photocatalytic activity was found to be clearly dependent on the specific area of the photocatalyst.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.15 no.2 s.46
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• pp.96-106
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• 2006

Among several different hydrogen production technologies, solar hydrogen system for water splitting is the only clean and sustainable energy supplier. Hydrogen production by water-splitting utilizing solar energy has attracted considerable interest since the pioneering work of Honda and Fujishima in 1979, who discovered that water can be photo-electrochemically decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen using a semiconductor ($TiO_2$) electrode under UV irradiation. Most efforts to utilize solar ray lead to explore visible responding photocatalysts, PEC cells and other fusion technology like bio-photocatalytic conversion. In this paper, photon utilization technologies for water splitting have been briefly reviewed except solar thermal utilization technology.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.37-40
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• 2004

New visible photocatalyst(Nanovis$^{(R)}$) has been synthesized to overcome the barrier of limitation of UV light utilization of current $TiO_2$ photocatalyst. It was found that red shift of absorption spectrum to 550nm was achieved. Its physical properties were characterized by XRD, BET and TEM. It is also observed that Nanovis$^{(R)}$ has a photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of Trichloroethylene under visible light irradiation. V,VII group doped into substitutional sites of $TiO_2$ has proven to be indispensable for band-gap narrowing and photocatalytic activity. These test results lead us to conclude that Nanovis$^{(R)}$ can be used for IAQ improvemen and for photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.495-498
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• 2008

Photocatalytic water splitting into $H_2$ and $O_2$ using semiconductors has received much attention, especially for its potential application to direct production of $H_2$ for clean energy from water utilizing solar light energy. Since the report of Fujishima and Honda on the water splitting by photoelectrochemical cells, numerous different semiconducting materials have been used as photocatalysts for hydrogen generation from water. Among them, platinized titania significantly accelerates hydrogen production from water. For geometrical improvement of $TiO_2$ particle, porous $TiO_2$ structure was proposed and studied such as nanofiber, nanorod and nototubes. This research focuses on finding out the optimum temperature and electrolyte to produce $H_2$ by solar water splitting.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.415-423
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• 2007

Photocatalytic water splitting (PWS) is the most promising technology to produce $H_2$ energy directly from renewable water and solar light. In spite of the remarkable progress made in the last decade, there are still many technical challenges remaining particularly in finding new photocatalytic materials with high efficiency and durability. This article discusses the application of nanocomposite materials in search of new photocatalytic materials for solar hydrogen production from water. It has been demonstrated that smart combination and modification of known materials and functions could be fruitful approach for the purpose.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09b
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• pp.1116-1117
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• 2006

Lanthanide tantalite $LnTaO_4$ (Ln= La, Nd, Sm, Dy, Er and Tm) was synthesized by a solid state reaction between mixed powders of $Ln_2O_3$ and $Ta_2O_5$. The single-phase $LnTaO_4$ was prepared by sintering at temperatures of 1423-1673 K in air. The SEM observation showed that the particles were provided with the growth steps and the depeloped facets. The photocatalytic activity for water splitting of $LnTaO_4$ prepared was measured under UV light irradiation. The activity obtained was higher than that previously reported. These results suggested the crystallinity of $LnTaO_4$ photocatalysts correlates closely with the efficiency of water splitting.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2001

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.377-389
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• 2022

The current global energy supply depends heavily on fossil fuels. This makes technology such as direct water splitting from harvesting solar energy in photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems potentially attractive due to its a promising route for environmentally benign hydrogen production. In this study, undoped and nickel-doped molybdenum oxide photoanodes (called photoanodes S₁ and S₂ respectively) were synthesized through electrodeposition by applying -1.377 V vs Ag/AgCl (3 M KCl) for 3 hours on an FTO-coated glass substrate immersed in molibdatecitrate aqueous solutions at pH 9. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used for microstructural and compositional characterizations of the photoanodes. In addition, the optical and photoelectrochemical characterizations of these photoanodes were performed by UV-Visible spectroscopy, and linear scanning voltammetry (LSV) respectively. The results showed that all the photoanodes produced exhibit conductivity and catalytic properties that make them attractive for water splitting application in a photoelectrochemical cell. In this context, the photoanode S₂ exhibited better photocatalytic activity than the photoanode S₁. In addition, photoanode S₂ had the lowest optical band-gap energy value (2.58 eV), which would allow better utilization of the solar spectrum.