Performance of nano photocatalysts for the recovery of hydrogen and sulphur from sulphide containing wastewater

Abstract

Stability of photocatalyst plays an important role in efficient hydrogen recovery from sulphide waste streams. This research focuses on the stability and efficiency of visible light active photocatalysts viz., RuO2/CuGa1.6Fe0.4O4, ZnFe2O3, (CdS + ZnS)/Fe2O3 and Ce/TiO2 for H2 production. RuO2/CuGa1.6Fe0.4O4 photocatalyst was found to give maximum hydrogen production of 8370 μmol/h. The reusability of the photocatalysts was tested by multiple cycles of catalyst regeneration along with H2 production. The result shows that (CdS + ZnS) coated iron oxide core shell particles were found to be stable than other prepared nano photocatalysts. It is also demonstrated that H2S can be split into hydrogen and sulphur under visible light irradiation using sulphide and sulphite reaction media at room temperature. This research paper will help in search of stable photocatalysts in recovering hydrogen from sulphide wastewater along with sulphur separation.