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Catalysts
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Photocatalytic Water Splitting
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Photocatalytic Water Splitting

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 30722

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Marcelino Maneiro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain
Interests: bioinorganic; biomimetic catalysts; supramolecular; superoxide dismutase; catalase; peroxidase; artificial photosynthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Pau Farras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemistry, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, H91 CF50 Galway, Ireland
Interests: water splitting; artificial photosynthesis; photochemistry; photoactive materials; nanomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photocatalytic water splitting constitutes one major goal that addresses both the fundamental science and practical applications of renewable energy production. The Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC) is the native enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of water in natural photosynthesis to release oxygen. The creation of biomimetic systems to reproduce the basic chemistry of this process gives us more insight into better understanding this crucial natural reaction which is responsible of the atmospheric oxygen that we breathe. On the other hand, the growing world energy demand, along with the need for control of gas emissions, explains the current relevance of the conversion of solar energy to hydrogen by means of water splitting process. Decomposing water is the more direct way to produce hydrogen, which can be stored and utilized as a transportable fuel or converted into energy-rich organic molecules, to cope with the intermittent character of the solar radiation.

This Special Issue aims to cover recent progress and developments in fabricating stable and highly active catalysts for photochemical water oxidation. Moreover, the research for understanding the fine details of natural photosynthesis, as well as the advances in the area of solar-powered fuel generation, should be important subjects for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Marcelino Maneiro
Dr. Pau Farràs Costa
Guest Editor

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

  • Water splitting
  • artificial photosynthesis
  • photocatalysts
  • hydrogen generation
  • oxygen evolution
  • carbon dioxide
  • renewable energy
  • energy storage

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2312 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Biomass or Wastewaters Depending on the Metal Co-Catalyst and Its Deposition Method on TiO2
by Mikel Imizcoz and Alberto V. Puga
Catalysts 2019, 9(7), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9070584 - 03 Jul 2019
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 5933
Abstract
A systematic study on the solar photocatalytic hydrogen production (photoreforming) performance of M/TiO2 (M = Au, Ag, Cu or Pt) using glucose as a model substrate, and further extended to lignocellulose hydrolysates and wastewaters, is herein presented. Three metal ( [...] Read more.
A systematic study on the solar photocatalytic hydrogen production (photoreforming) performance of M/TiO2 (M = Au, Ag, Cu or Pt) using glucose as a model substrate, and further extended to lignocellulose hydrolysates and wastewaters, is herein presented. Three metal (M) co-catalyst loading methods were tested. Variation of the type of metal results in significantly dissimilar H2 production rates, albeit the loading method exerts an even greater effect in most cases. Deposition-precipitation (followed by hydrogenation) or photodeposition provided better results than classical impregnation (followed by calcination). Interestingly, copper as a co-catalyst performed satisfactorily as compared to Au, and slightly below Pt, thus representing a realistic inexpensive alternative to noble metals. Hydrolysates of either α-cellulose or rice husks, obtained under mild conditions (short thermal cycles at 160 °C), were rich in saccharides and thus suitable as feedstocks. Nonetheless, the presence of inhibiting byproducts hindered H2 production. A novel photocatalytic UV pre-treatment method was successful to initially remove the most recalcitrant portion of these minor products along with H2 production (17 µmol gcat−1 h−1 on Cu/TiO2). After a short UV step, simulated sunlight photoreforming was orders of magnitude more efficient than without the pre-treatment. Hydrogen production was also directly tested on two different wastewater streams, that is, a municipal influent and samples from operations in a fruit juice producing plant, with remarkable results obtained for the latter (up to 115 µmol gcat−1 h−1 using Au/TiO2). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photocatalytic Water Splitting)
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17 pages, 3056 KiB  
Article
Modeling the OEC with Two New Biomimetic Models: Preparations, Structural Characterization, and Water Photolysis Studies of a Ba–Mn Box Type Complex and a Mn4N6 Planar-Diamond Cluster
by Lara Rouco, M. Isabel Fernández-García, Rosa Pedrido, Luis M. Botana, David Esteban-Gómez, Carlos Platas-Iglesias and Marcelino Maneiro
Catalysts 2018, 8(9), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8090382 - 07 Sep 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3930
Abstract
The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) is the native enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of water in natural photosynthesis. Two new classes of manganese cluster complexes of formula Ba2Mn2L12(H3L1)2(CH3OH)4 [...] Read more.
The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) is the native enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of water in natural photosynthesis. Two new classes of manganese cluster complexes of formula Ba2Mn2L12(H3L1)2(CH3OH)4 1 and Mn4L26Cl2 2 were prepared (H4L1 = N,N′-(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis(2-hydroxybenzamide); L2 = methyl picolinimidate) and characterized by standard techniques including microanalysis, IR spectroscopy, ESI spectrometry, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. X-ray diffraction studies of these complexes revealed (i) a box-type structure for 1 formed by two redox-active manganese(III) ions and two barium(II) ions connected by two bridging bisamido-bisphenoxy ligand molecules; and (ii) a planar-diamond array for Mn4N6 cluster 2 where the picolinimidates act as chelating ligands through the two nitrogen atoms. The ability of 1 and 2 to split water has been studied by means of water photolysis experiments. In these experiments, the oxygen evolution was measured in aqueous media in the presence of p-benzoquinone (acting as the hydrogen acceptor), the reduction of which was followed by UV-spectroscopy. The relevant photolytic activity found for 1 is in contrast to the inactivity of 2 in the photolytic experiments. This different behavior is discussed on the basis of the structure of the biomimetic models and the proposed reaction mechanism for this process supported by DFT calculations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photocatalytic Water Splitting)
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10 pages, 1976 KiB  
Article
High Performance of Manganese Porphyrin Sensitized p-Type CuFe2O4 Photocathode for Solar Water Splitting to Produce Hydrogen in a Tandem Photoelectrochemical Cell
by Xia Li, Aijuan Liu, Dongmei Chu, Chunyong Zhang, Yukou Du, Jie Huang and Ping Yang
Catalysts 2018, 8(3), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8030108 - 09 Mar 2018
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5760
Abstract
A novel composite composed of (5, 10, 15, 20-tetraphenyl) porphinato manganese sensitized p-type CuFe2O4 was developed for constructing the photocathode of a tandem photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell. The prepared material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray [...] Read more.
A novel composite composed of (5, 10, 15, 20-tetraphenyl) porphinato manganese sensitized p-type CuFe2O4 was developed for constructing the photocathode of a tandem photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell. The prepared material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Light-driven water splitting to produce hydrogen can be achieved through the PEC cell, and the results show that H2 and O2 can be collected separately at low applied bias. This work demonstrates that manganese porphyrin sensitized CuFe2O4 is an effective hybrid material for building the photocathode of a PEC cell for solar water splitting to produce H2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photocatalytic Water Splitting)
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4035 KiB  
Article
Hydrogen Production via Water Dissociation Using Pt–TiO2 Photocatalysts: An Oxidation–Reduction Network
by J. F. Guayaquil-Sosa, Alan Calzada, Benito Serrano, Salvador Escobedo and Hugo De Lasa
Catalysts 2017, 7(11), 324; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7110324 - 30 Oct 2017
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 8469
Abstract
Several TiO2 based semiconductors with different Pt loadings are prepared using incipient impregnation, wet impregnation and the sol-gel method. These photocatalysts are evaluated in the Photo-CREC-Water II Photoreactor for hydrogen production via water dissociation, using an organic renewable scavenger (ethanol). Results obtained [...] Read more.
Several TiO2 based semiconductors with different Pt loadings are prepared using incipient impregnation, wet impregnation and the sol-gel method. These photocatalysts are evaluated in the Photo-CREC-Water II Photoreactor for hydrogen production via water dissociation, using an organic renewable scavenger (ethanol). Results obtained show the influence of the photocatalyst preparation in the production of hydrogen and in the observed quantum yields. Furthermore, it is established that the reaction networks leading to hydrogen production, using various photocatalysts, share common features. This analysis is developed by both identifying and quantifying different chemical species and their changes with irradiation time. Key species in this oxidation–reduction network are hydrogen, hydrogen peroxide, ethanol, methane, ethane, acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide. On this basis, it is shown that under an inert gas atmosphere, ethanol consumption is sub-stoichiometric. This points towards simultaneous ethanol consumption and the formation of the ethanol scavenger. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photocatalytic Water Splitting)
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Review

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15 pages, 2694 KiB  
Review
Surface Modification of Hematite Photoanodes for Improvement of Photoelectrochemical Performance
by Lifei Xi and Kathrin M. Lange
Catalysts 2018, 8(11), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8110497 - 26 Oct 2018
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5512
Abstract
Solar water splitting is a promising method for producing renewable fuels. Thermodynamically, the overall water splitting reaction is an uphill reaction involving a multiple electron transfer process. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been identified as the bottleneck process. Hematite (α-Fe2O [...] Read more.
Solar water splitting is a promising method for producing renewable fuels. Thermodynamically, the overall water splitting reaction is an uphill reaction involving a multiple electron transfer process. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been identified as the bottleneck process. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is one of the best photoanode material candidates due to its band gap properties and stability in aqueous solution. However, the reported efficiencies of hematite are notoriously lower than the theoretically predicted value mainly due to poor charge transfer and separation ability, short hole diffusion length as well as slow water oxidation kinetics. In this Review Article, several emerging surface modification strategies to reduce the oxygen evolution overpotential and thus to enhance the water oxidation reaction kinetics will be presented. These strategies include co-catalysts loading, photoabsorption enhancing (surface plasmonic metal and rare earth metal decoration), surface passivation layer deposition, surface chemical etching and surface doping. These methods are found to reduce charge recombination happening at surface trapping states, promote charge separation and diffusion, and accelerate water oxidation kinetics. The detailed surface modification methods, surface layer materials, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performances including photocurrent and onset potential shift as well as the related proposed mechanisms will be reviewed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photocatalytic Water Splitting)
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