Hydrogen Production Through Solar-Driven Water Splitting: Cu(I) Oxide-Based Semiconductor Nanoparticles as the Next-Generation Photocatalysts

Shyamal, Sanjib; Satpati, Ashis Kumar; Maity, Arjun; Bhattacharya, Chinmoy

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04500-5_8

Sanjib Shyamal⁷,
Ashis Kumar Satpati⁸,
Arjun Maity^9,10 &
…
Chinmoy Bhattacharya⁷

Part of the book series: Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World ((ECSW,volume 24))

832 Accesses

Abstract

Production of clean fuels like H₂ using renewable sources such as sunlight, through photoelectrochemical (PEC) system, is one of the promising approaches. For large-scale applications of the PEC devices, the photocatalyst used should be of low cost, quite stable, and with high conversion efficiency for H₂ production. This chapter describes the application of Cu(I)-based binary and ternary oxide photocatalysts toward solar H₂ generation. Due to many advantages of Cu(I)-based oxides, including low bandgap energy, suitable band positions, high charge carrier mobility, and most importantly low cost and nontoxic nature, it has received significant attention in PEC water splitting reaction. Different synthetic routes, electrodeposition, atomic layer deposition, anodization, chemical vapor deposition, e-beam evaporation, pulsed laser deposition, sputtering, successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction, sol-gel, spray pyrolysis, thermal oxidation, etc., have been explored to obtain efficient Cu₂O thin films. Employing suitable substrate offering better electrical connectivity facilitates the hole transport mechanism leading to improvement of water reduction process. Various co-catalysts have been identified, and application of different other compounds like metal oxides, carbon-based derivatives, etc. influences the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers, thereby enhancing the overall performance and stability of the materials.

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Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal, India
Sanjib Shyamal & Chinmoy Bhattacharya
Analytical Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
Ashis Kumar Satpati
DST/CSIR Innovation Centre, National Centre for Nanostructured Materials, Pretoria, South Africa
Arjun Maity
Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Arjun Maity

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Sanjib Shyamal
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Chinmoy Bhattacharya
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Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
Saravanan Rajendran
Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mu. Naushad
NCNSNT, University of Madras, Chennai, India
Subramanian Balakumar

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Shyamal, S., Satpati, A.K., Maity, A., Bhattacharya, C. (2019). Hydrogen Production Through Solar-Driven Water Splitting: Cu(I) Oxide-Based Semiconductor Nanoparticles as the Next-Generation Photocatalysts. In: Rajendran, S., Naushad, M., Balakumar, S. (eds) Nanostructured Materials for Energy Related Applications. Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04500-5_8

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Published: 12 February 2019
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