Solar Hydrogen Production and Biomass Reforming Using Earth-Abundant Non-Toxic Si-Based Photocatalysts

Abstract

The efficient production of electrochemical hydrogen and biomass refinement is crucial for the decarbonization of various industries. However, their low efficiency and high energy requirements make them impractical. In this talk, we propose using earth-abundant and non-toxic photocatalysts that can produce hydrogen and reform biomass efficiently by utilizing solar energy. Our approach involves using low bandgap Si flakes (SiF) for efficient light absorption. SiF was further modified with Ni-coordinated N-doped graphene quantum dots (Ni-NGQDs) to enable stable light-driven biomass reforming and hydrogen production. SiF/Ni-NQGDs enabled a record hydrogen productivity and concurrent vanillin production when using kraft lignin as model biomass under simulated sunlight without any buffering agent or sacrificial electron donors. SiF/Ni-NQGDs can also be easily recycled without noticeable performance degradation due to the prevention of Si deactivation through oxidation. Our findings provide valuable insights into the practical application of biomass refinement and electrochemical hydrogen production and efficient use use of solar energy.Reference)1. Y. Choi, S. Choi, I. Lee, T. V. T. Nguyen, S. Bae, J. Ryu, Y. H. Kim, S. Park, J. Ryu, Solar Biomass Reforming and Hydrogen Production with Earth-Abundant Si-Based Photocatalysts. Advanced Materials 2023, Accepted. Figure 1