Recent Advances in Efficient Nanostructured Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Fuel Production: A Short Review

Abstract

Various techniques developed to produce the H2 gas, photocatalytic H2 generation from water splitting is found to be clean and green technology which is in line with the global environment and energy suitability. It involves separation of charge, migration of charge, and chemical reaction on the surface. Various kinds of photocatalysts are used which are made of metal oxides, metal chalcogenides, and graphene-based nanocomposites. This review describes the development of various photocatalysts, such as TiO2, ZnO, MoS2, and their composites. The three-way nitrogen-doped carbon tube covered MoS2 TNCT@MoS2 was reported to be a more efficient photocatalyst. SEM images, XRD results, and diffraction patterns of the above composites were described to correlate with the photocatalytic property. The production of hydrogen using TNCT@MoS2 was found to be much more productive than usual MoS2. In addition to metal oxide and sulfide, the review also covers the photocatalytic behavior of graphene, and S/Se based metal chalcogenide-based compounds and composites (MCCs) were also discussed. The structural features of all these important photocatalysts using XRD, SEM, EDX, and UV-V is techniques were revealed. Finally, the photocatalytic H2 generation efficiency, possible mechanism of all these catalysts, was compared. In summary, we have reviewed the photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency of metal oxides, metal chalcogenides, and graphene-based nanocomposites.