(Invited) Piezocatalysis for Treating a Massive Industrial Dye Solution and Hydrogen Production

Abstract

As a fossil fuel substitute, among the various renewable alternative energy sources, hydrogen fuel is a clean energy source being developed in advanced industrial nations worldwide. Photocatalytic water splitting yields hydrogen through redox reactions underlying direct water decomposition. Although water splitting is a promising method of yielding clean energy from the sunlight without contaminating byproducts, sunlight is a desultory source of energy, which limits the amount of solar radiation owing to its dependence on time (day or night), geographical position, and season.Redox reactions remain one of the most promising methods of producing hydrogen and decomposing industrial wastewater. However, for most critical practical industrial applications, the robust light attenuation of wastewater results in meager quantum yield, thus significantly limiting the commercial applications of photocatalysis. Therefore, novel approaches to evaluating parameters, including cost-effectivity, high efficiency, and long-time stability, are highly desirable for developing next-generation catalysts. In particular, such technology would be up-and-coming for simultaneously producing hydrogen gas and decomposing industrial wastewater without light irradiation. This talk will report how 2D transition metal dichalcogenides can be used for piezocatalyts for highly efficient wastewater treatment of a massive industrial dye solution and hydrogen production without applied light irradiation by utilizing a closed-loop system with a low-frequency natural water flow. Our newly developed piezoelectrocatalysts system provides the first evidence of the effective production of hydrogen gas and the simultaneous decomposition of dye molecules in wastewater without light irradiation, thus providing a promising method for treating industrial wastewater and producing clean energy.