Solar Hydrogen Productivity of Ceria–Scandia Solid Solution Using Two-Step Water-Splitting Cycle

Abstract

The reactivity of CeO2–Sc2O3 solid solution for solar hydrogen production via two-step water-splitting reaction has been studied in this work. The CeO2–Sc2O3 solid solution was synthesized by polymerized complex method (PCM) with various Sc content between 0 and 20 mol. %. Analysis results from online direct gas mass spectrometry (DGMS) suggest that Ce3 + formed by CeO2–Sc2O3 solid solution in the O2-releasing step could be completely oxidized by H2O to generate hydrogen and return to Ce4 + in the H2-generation step. A Ce0.97Sc0.03O1.985 generates the largest amount of O2 and H2 among present samples, and the reduction and oxidation ratios are about 9.9% (Ce) and 10% (Ce), respectively. An estimated H2-generation reaction rate is about 4 ml g−1min−1 for Ce0.97Sc0.03O1.985. This value is about seven times greater than that of Ce0.89Zr0.11O2. The high reaction rate of Ce0.97Sc0.03O1.985 makes all formed Ce3 + completely oxidized by H2O in 5 min in the H2-generation step. The reasons for high performance are discussed from the views of lattice distortion and the amount of oxygen vacancies formed in the lattice.