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Catalysts
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Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Materials for Fuel Production
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Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Materials for Fuel Production

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 15565

Special Issue Editors

Dr. María Isabel Díez García

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Guest Editor
IREC, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research, Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, 08930 Sant Adrià de Besós, Spain
Interests: solar fuels, (photo)electrochemistry for energy conversion, hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, (photo)electrochemical cells, preparation and characterization of (photo)electrodes
Dr. Sebastian Murcia-López

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, 08930 Sant Adrià de Besós, Spain
Interests: energy storage; solar fuels; CO2 reduction; photocatalysis for energy applications; redox flow batteries
Prof. Dr. Juan Ramon Morante

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IREC, Catalonia Institute for Energy Research, Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, 08930 Sant Adrià de Besós, Spain
Interests: renewable energy, energy storage and conversion, solar and synthetic fuels, added-value chemicals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our society urgently needs a new energy paradigm based on clean energy sources to mitigate the existing climate change on our planet. The deployment of carbon-free energy technologies that could compete with the price of fossil fuels is expected to be a key factor for sustaining the future energy requirements of the world population. Solar energy has a high potential to meet most of the energy needs. Then, the production of fuels derived from light-assisted catalytic reactions is a potentially clean, cheap, and renewable route for solar energy storage in the form of chemical bonds by the use of semiconductor materials.

In the case of the photoelectrochemical cells, non-optimal performance of the materials used as photoelectrodes in both anodic and cathodic half-reactions precludes its technological development. Such limitations derive from different factors such as optical constraints (low absorption coefficients, high band gaps), poor charge transport, poor photostability or low kinetics for the desired reactions. In photocatalytic reactions, besides the same limitations inherent to such kind of materials, additional thermodynamic requirements should be met for driving the overall process. This Special Issue aims to address relevant breakthroughs in the development and optimization of photocatalytic materials of interest in photoelectrochemical or photosynthetic cells for the production of fuels, such as hydrogen, CxHyOz compounds, syngas (with potential for further fuel generation) or ammonia as energy vectors. Articles facing electrochemical fuel production are also included in the scope of the issue as they can be used in electrolyzers coupled to photovoltaic cells.

Dr. María Isabel Díez García
Dr. Sebastian Murcia López
Prof. Dr. Joan Ramon Morante Lleonart
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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 2200 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

  • Hydrogen evolution reaction
  • Photoelectrochemical cells
  • CO2 reduction
  • Solar fuels
  • Photocatalytic materials
  • Photoelectrodes
  • Water splitting
  • Oxygen evolution reaction
  • N2 reduction

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2271 KiB  
Article
Facile Surfactant-Assisted Synthesis of BiVO4 Nanoparticulate Films for Solar Water Splitting
by Laura Montañés, Camilo A. Mesa, Ana Gutiérrez-Blanco, Christian Robles, Beatriz Julián-López and Sixto Giménez
Catalysts 2021, 11(10), 1244; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11101244 - 15 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3172
Abstract
Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4), which has attractive applicability as a photoactive material, presents applications that range from catalysis to water treatment upon visible light irradiation. In this study, we develop a simple synthesis of < 200 nm monoclinic BiVO4 nanoparticles, which [...] Read more.
Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4), which has attractive applicability as a photoactive material, presents applications that range from catalysis to water treatment upon visible light irradiation. In this study, we develop a simple synthesis of < 200 nm monoclinic BiVO4 nanoparticles, which were further deposited on transparent conductive substrates by spin coating and calcination, obtaining nanostructured films. The obtained nanostructured BiVO4 photoanodes were tested for water oxidation, leading to promising photocurrents exhibiting competitive onset potentials (~0.3 V vs. RHE). These nanoparticulate BiVO4 photoanodes represent a novel class of highly potential materials for the design of efficient photoelectrochemical devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Materials for Fuel Production)
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19 pages, 2261 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Gas Diffusion Electrode Systems for the Electrochemical CO2 Conversion
by Hilmar Guzmán, Federica Zammillo, Daniela Roldán, Camilla Galletti, Nunzio Russo and Simelys Hernández
Catalysts 2021, 11(4), 482; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11040482 - 9 Apr 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5309
Abstract
Electrochemical CO2 reduction is a promising carbon capture and utilisation technology. Herein, a continuous flow gas diffusion electrode (GDE)-cell configuration has been studied to convert CO2 via electrochemical reduction under atmospheric conditions. To this purpose, Cu-based electrocatalysts immobilised on a porous [...] Read more.
Electrochemical CO2 reduction is a promising carbon capture and utilisation technology. Herein, a continuous flow gas diffusion electrode (GDE)-cell configuration has been studied to convert CO2 via electrochemical reduction under atmospheric conditions. To this purpose, Cu-based electrocatalysts immobilised on a porous and conductive GDE have been tested. Many system variables have been evaluated to find the most promising conditions able to lead to increased production of CO2 reduction liquid products, specifically: applied potentials, catalyst loading, Nafion content, KHCO3 electrolyte concentration, and the presence of metal oxides, like ZnO or/and Al2O3. In particular, the CO productivity increased at the lowest Nafion content of 15%, leading to syngas with an H2/CO ratio of ~1. Meanwhile, at the highest Nafion content (45%), C2+ products formation has been increased, and the CO selectivity has been decreased by 80%. The reported results revealed that the liquid crossover through the GDE highly impacts CO2 diffusion to the catalyst active sites, thus reducing the CO2 conversion efficiency. Through mathematical modelling, it has been confirmed that the increase of the local pH, coupled to the electrode-wetting, promotes the formation of bicarbonate species that deactivate the catalysts surface, hindering the mechanisms for the C2+ liquid products generation. These results want to shine the spotlight on kinetics and transport limitations, shifting the focus from catalytic activity of materials to other involved factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Materials for Fuel Production)
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15 pages, 7884 KiB  
Article
Tuning Structural Properties of WO3 Thin Films for Photoelectrocatalytic Water Oxidation
by Amar Kamal Mohamedkhair, Qasem Ahmed Drmosh, Mohammad Qamar and Zain Hassan Yamani
Catalysts 2021, 11(3), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11030381 - 16 Mar 2021
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 5622
Abstract
The preparation of tungsten oxide (WO3) thin film by direct current (DC) reactive sputtering magnetron method and its photoelectrocatalytic properties for water oxidation reaction are investigated using ultraviolet-visible radiation. The structural, morphological, and compositional properties of WO3 are fine-tuned by [...] Read more.
The preparation of tungsten oxide (WO3) thin film by direct current (DC) reactive sputtering magnetron method and its photoelectrocatalytic properties for water oxidation reaction are investigated using ultraviolet-visible radiation. The structural, morphological, and compositional properties of WO3 are fine-tuned by controlling thin film deposition time, and post-annealing temperature and environment. The findings suggest that the band gap of WO3 can be controlled by adjusting the post-annealing temperature; the band gap decreased from 3.2 to 2.7 eV by increasing the annealing temperature from 100 to 600 °C. The theoretical calculations of the WO3 bandgap and the density of state are performed by density functional theory (DFT). Following the band gap modification, the photoelectrocatalytic activity increased and the maximum photocurrent (0.9 mA/cm2 at 0.6 VSCE) is recorded with WO3 film heated at 500 °C. The WO3 film heated under air exhibits much better performance in photoelectrochemical water oxidation process than that of annealed under inert atmosphere, due to its structural variation. The change in sputtering time leads to the formation of WO3 with varying film thickness, and the maximum photocurrent is observed when the film thickness is approximately 150 nm. The electrical conductivity and charge transfer resistance are measured and correlated to the properties and the performance of the WO3 photoelectrodes. In addition, the WO3 photoelectrode exhibits excellent photoelectrochemical stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Materials for Fuel Production)
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