Abstract
Cu-doped ZnO photocatalysts at different Cu loadings were prepared by a precipitation method. The presence of Cu in the ZnO crystal lattice led to significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity for H2 production from an aqueous glycerol solution under visible light irradiation. The best Cu loading was found to be 1.08 mol %, which allowed achieving hydrogen production equal to 2600 μmol/L with an aqueous glycerol solution at 5 wt % initial concentration, the photocatalyst dosage equal to 1.5 g/L, and at the spontaneous pH of the solution (pH = 6). The hydrogen production rate was increased to about 4770 μmol/L by increasing the initial glycerol concentration up to 10 wt %. The obtained results evidenced that the optimized Cu-doped ZnO could be considered a suitable visible-light-active photocatalyst to be used in photocatalytic hydrogen production without the presence of noble metals in sample formulation.
Highlights
Hydrogen production from water under sunlight is, nowadays, one of the most ecological and rational alternatives for obtaining an energy carrier
The obtained results evidenced that the optimized Cu-doped ZnO could be considered a suitable visible-light-active photocatalyst to be used in photocatalytic hydrogen production without the presence of noble metals in sample formulation
The photocatalytic hydrogen production was evaluated for undoped ZnO and Cu-doped ZnO
Summary
Hydrogen production from water under sunlight is, nowadays, one of the most ecological and rational alternatives for obtaining an energy carrier. In order to use solar energy, the development of visible-light-driven photocatalytic systems is highly required For this purpose, the use of a noble metal, such as Au, Ag, and Pt, as a cocatalyst element or for photocatalyst doping has been reported [26,27,28]. As an alternative, it has been proposed to use different metals that are less expensive than noble metals but with interesting properties This is the case with copper, which, as demonstrated in the literature [23,31,32], is able to enhance the photocatalytic properties of semiconductors such as TiO2 and ZnO, promoting hydrogen production even in the presence of visible light. Cu/TiO2 photocatalysts exhibited enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light from a glycerol aqueous solution [33]. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of operating conditions on photocatalytic hydrogen production from glycerol solutions in the presence of a visible-light-active Cu-doped ZnO photocatalyst, previously optimized towards the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and oxidation of arsenite into arsenate [37]
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