Development of bamboo charcoal and fragaria vesca powder photocatalysts in hydrogen production via water splitting

Abstract

Hydrogen has become the subject of attention as an environmentally friendly and effective source in recent years. The photocatalysis method with biomass-photocatalyst is an alternative step for hydrogen production via water splitting. In this study, bamboo charcoal (BC) and Fragaria Vesca Powder (FVP) are biomass materials used to develop photocatalysts in hydrogen production. The light source for photocatalysis was a halogen lamp with a wavelength of 560 nm. The hydrogen gas produced is measured using the MQ-8 sensor which is capable of measuring hydrogen gas in 100–10,000 ppm. Hydrogen production is significantly increased with the combination of the BC and FVP photocatalysts. Based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) image analysis by Image J software, BC and FVP have a negative and positive charge, respectively. The aromatic carbon ring in BC has an energy gap of 2.48 eV whereas that in FVP has a lower energy gap, 2.32 eV due to functional groups energizing electron in the FVP aromatic ring. The interaction between positive and negative charges when BC and FVP are combined generates the second lower energy gap in the combined catalyst, 1.66 eV that tends to increase electron density on the catalyst surface. The more dense electrons destabilize more hydrogen and covalent bonds in water increasing hydrogen production by 20 times from that with BC only or by 4 times from that with FVP only. When aluminum foil (AF) was added to the bottom of the reactor tube, the photocatalyst's performance was strengthened. The AF material was an 8011 aluminum alloy with a thickness of 0.02 mm and a diameter of 80 mm. AF has two important roles, that is, accelerates reduction reaction and facilitates the breaking of the hydrogen and covalent bonds in water