Abstract
The separation of nanoparticles from a solution-based photocatalytic reaction is a significant problem in practical applications. To address the issue, we developed a new photocatalyst composite based on ZnO-ZnS heterojunction (ZnOS) embedded in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel, which showed satisfactory results for photocatalyst recycling. PVA-ZnOS composite hydrogel was fabricated by freezing-induced gelation, which enabled the encapsulation of ZnOS nanoparticles into polymeric matrices. PVA hydrogel served as a promising candidate in photocatalytic applications due to its excellent properties such as high transparency, porosity, hydrophilicity, and stability under ultraviolet (UV) light. PVA-ZnOS hydrogel showed worthy activity in H2 generation from Na2S/Na2SO3 aqueous solution under UV radiation with a production rate of 18.8 µmol·h−1. PVA-ZnOS composite hydrogel is a separation-free photocatalyst, which is prospective in a solution-based photocatalytic reactor.
Highlights
Climate change produced by the increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) release is considered a significant threat to life on earth; in 2015 the Paris Climate Accord agreed on providing feasible solutions by holding the global temperature rise below 2 ◦C by reducing CO2 emissions to net 0 by 2050 [1]
Different amounts of ZnOS nanoparticles were embedded into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel
To ensure the homogeneous mixture of ZnOS NPs in PVA solution, ZnOS was predispersed into N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent before adding PVA
Summary
Climate change produced by the increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) release is considered a significant threat to life on earth; in 2015 the Paris Climate Accord agreed on providing feasible solutions by holding the global temperature rise below 2 ◦C by reducing CO2 emissions to net 0 by 2050 [1]. H2 is generated by thermal energy at high temperature through steam reforming via reacting fossil fuel with steam (e.g., CH4 + H2O → CO + 3H2) or by coal gasification via reacting fossil fuel in the presence of a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam (e.g., 3C + O2 + H2O → H2 + 3CO) [4]. These processes would require higher energy consumption and produce carbon oxide gases, amongst other released greenhouse gases. We successfully developed ZnS-ZnO nanostructures for high-performance H2-generation reaction and Cr(VI) reduction [13,14]
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