Increased H2 Production Research Articles

Pyrolysis of municipal solid waste with iron-based additives: A study on the kinetic, product distribution and catalytic mechanisms

To realize highly efficient and environmentally friendly utilization of municipal solid waste (MSW) and iron ore, we proposed a novel method for combining MSW pyrolysis and iron ore reduction. The effects of two iron-based additives (iron ore and iron oxide) on the pyrolysis characteristics of MSW were first investigated by using TGA, and the kinetic results illustrated that the average activation energy of MSW pyrolysis was 180.32 kJ/mol. By adding iron ore and iron oxide, the activation energy decreased to 151.76 and 150.18 kJ/mol, respectively. Then, the product yield and product composition of MSW were analyzed by a fixed-bed reactor, GC-MS and GC. The fixed-bed reactor experiments of MSW pyrolysis indicated that the iron ore and iron oxide acted as catalysts to change the yield and composition of pyrolysis gas and tar, thereby promoting thermal cracking of MSW and showing a high conversion rate for MSW pyrolysis (55.81 and 55.05%). The GC-MS and GC analyses demonstrated that the two additives could significantly reduce the heteroatomic compounds of pyrolysis tar and increase H2, CO and CO2 production. Furthermore, the reduction of iron ore and the catalytic mechanism were analyzed by H2-TPR, XPS and BET. The H2-TPR results showed that compared with the peak of iron oxide, the characteristic peaks of iron ore shifted to a high temperature due to being suppressed by minerals in the iron ore. XPS suggested that the MSW volatiles led to an increase in the binding energy of Fe 2p3/2 and Fe 2p1/2 and a decrease in the binding energy of O 1s during the reduction of iron ore. BET analysis indicated that the high activity of the catalyst might be attributed to its high surface area.

Correlation of hydrogen generation and optical emission properties of plasma in water photolysis on perovskite photocatalysts

Photocatalytic decomposition of organic materials-contained aqueous solution is assessed using a plasma discharged into the liquid directly. The correlation of H2 generation and optical emission spectroscopy is discussed in terms of photocatalytic H2 production using plasma and photocatalysts. Variations of the active species are evaluated according to the conditions of the plasma in the liquid phase. The optical emission spectra vary according to the plasma discharging conditions in the liquid phase. The intensities of the OH· peaks at 309 nm increase with the addition of ethanol or acetaldehyde in water. The highest intensities and rate of H2 evolution are observed at a 10% acetaldehyde concentration in the aqueous solution. The rates of H2 evolution in the ethanol or acetaldehyde solution correspond to the concentration of OH· in the solution. The photocatalytic reaction using liquid plasma generates hydrogen at the same time as the decomposition of the organic chemicals. The rate of hydrogen evolution in aqueous solutions containing the organic chemicals is higher than that in pure water. This is because hydrogen is further generated due to hydrogen generation by photolysis of the organic chemicals. CaTiO3 perovskite photocatalyst shows better photocatalytic activity than TiO2. Ni loading on the photocatalyst lead to an increase in H2 production.

Enhanced H2 production with efficient N2-fixation by fructose mixotrophically grown Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 strain disrupted in uptake hydrogenase

To explore the potential of a model filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 for solar based biohydrogen production, an inactivated uptake hydrogenase ΔHupL strain was used in combination with fructose induced N2-fixing ability of the cells. The results revealed that fructose supports N2-fixing and H2-metabolism in ΔHupL strain. Cells showed an increase in growth rate, pigment content, and the formation of mature heterocysts within 6 h after growing under light-fructose mixotrophic condition. Upon supplementation of optimum fructose concentration at 60 mM, the cells grown for 24 h showed a 3.1-fold increase of nitrogenase activity in conjunction with an increase of nifD expression, with increased electron flow from utilization of fructose through the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. Nitrogenase rather than bidirectional hydrogenase was likely responsible for the fructose mediated increase of H2-production. The maximum H2-production rate of ΔHupL strain under fructose mixotrophic growth was 101.33 μmolH2 mg chl a−1 h−1, accounting for a 4.7-fold increase compared to wild type under the same condition. Overall results indicated that fructose supplementation enabled Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 strain ΔHupL to increase N2-fixation leading to an enhanced H2-production.

Investigating Protein-Nanocrystal Interactions for Photodriven Activity.

We illustrate how intermolecular interactions facilitate ATP-free electron transfer between either native or engineered MoFe protein (MoFeP) from nitrogenase and a CdS nanorod (NR) by following the reduction of H+ to H2. First, by varying the charge on the surface of the NR, we show the role of electrostatic interactions on MoFeP binding to the particle surface and subsequent H+ reduction. Next, the role of strong, semicovalent thiol-CdS interactions was tested using free cysteines on the MoFeP. By blocking free cysteines, we show that the presence of free thiols on the protein has little to no influence on CdS binding and resultant photocatalytic activity. We next studied methods to covalently bind the protein to CdS by modifying the free cysteines with dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO) and reacting the CdS NRs capped with a mixture of negatively charged thioglycolic acid and thiol-PEG3-azide ligands. As compared to that of the unmodified proteins, a 32.2 ± 1.5% and 61.7 ± 2.1% increase in H2 production was observed from MoFeP and C-MoFeP, respectively. At last, to test the effect of both charge and covalent tethering, positively charged cysteamine/azide CdS NRs were reacted with DBCO-modified C-MoFeP, which showed little improvement over native C-MoFeP alone under irradiation. These results show the importance of both electrostatic associations between the NR and protein and covalently tethering the protein to the semiconductor surface for enhanced electron transfer and photodriven activity.

The effect of pH on rates of reaction and hydrogen generation during serpentinization.

A series of three laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate how pH affects reaction pathways and rates during serpentinization. Two experiments were conducted under strongly alkaline conditions using olivine as reactant at 200 and 230°C, and the results were compared with previous studies performed using the same reactants and methods at more neutral pH. For both experiments, higher pH resulted in more rapid serpentinization of the olivine and generation of larger amounts of H2 for comparable reaction times. Proportionally greater amounts of Fe were partitioned into brucite and chrysotile and less into magnetite in the experiments conducted at higher pH. In a third experiment, alkaline fluids were injected into an ongoing experiment containing olivine and orthopyroxene to raise the pH from circumneutral to strongly alkaline conditions. Increasing the pH of the olivine-orthopyroxene experiment resulted in an immediate and steep increase in H2 production, and led to far more extensive reaction of the primary minerals compared to a similar experiment conducted under more neutral conditions. The results suggest that the development of strongly alkaline conditions in actively serpentinizing systems promotes increased rates of reaction and H2 production, enhancing the flux of H2 available to support biological activity in these environments.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Serpentinite in the Earth System’.

A novel p-n Mn0.2Cd0.8S/NiWO4 heterojunction for highly efficient photocatalytic H2 production.

Constructing a p-n heterojunction has been regarded as an effective way to restrain charge recombination and boost photocatalytic H2 production activity. Herein, a novel Mn0.2Cd0.8S/NiWO4 composite was fabricated by a hydrothermal process and which exhibited enhanced H2 production activity and excellent photostability. Particularly, the composite with 30 wt% of NiWO4 achieved the optimal H2 production rate of 17.76 mmol g-1 h-1, which was 2.9 times higher than that of Mn0.2Cd0.8S. The increased H2 production property was mainly due to the p-n heterojunction between Mn0.2Cd0.8S and NiWO4, which provided an efficient path for charge transfer and inhibited the photocorrosion of Mn0.2Cd0.8S. This work can offer technical support for the design and development of p-n heterojunctions that can be applied for photocatalytic H2 production.

Determination of the potential of cyanobacterial strains for hydrogen production

Hydrogen (H2) is a renewable, abundant, and nonpolluting source of energy. Photosynthetic organisms capture sunlight very efficiently and convert it into organic molecules. Cyanobacteria produce H2 by breaking down organic compounds and water. In this study, biological H2 was produced from various strains of cyanobacteria. Moreover, H2 accumulation by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was as high as 0.037 μmol/mg Chl/h within 120 h in the dark. The wild-type, filamentous, non-heterocystous cyanobacterium Desertifilum sp. IPPAS B-1220 was found to produce a maximum of 0.229 μmol/mg Chl/h in the gas phase within 166 h in the light, which was on par with the maximum yield reported in the literature. DCMU at 10 μM increased H2 production by Desertifilum sp. IPPAS B-1220 by 1.5-fold to 0.348 μmol H2/mg Chl/h. This is the first report on the capability of Desertifilum cyanobacterium to produce H2.

Impact of the microbial inoculum source on pre-treatment efficiency for fermentative H2 production from glycerol

Hydrogen (H2) production by dark fermentation can be performed from a wide variety of microbial inoculum sources, which are generally pre-treated to eliminate the activity of H2-consuming species and/or enrich the microbial community with H2-producing bacteria. This paper aims to study the impact of the microbial inoculum source on pre-treatment behavior, with a special focus on microbial community changes. Two inocula (aerobic and anaerobic sludge) and two pre-treatments (aeration and heat shock) were investigated using glycerol as substrate during a continuous operation. Our results show that the inoculum source significantly affected the pre-treatment efficiency. In aerobic sludge no pre-treatment is necessary, while in anaerobic sludge the heat pre-treatment increased H2 production but aeration caused unstable H2 production. In addition, biokinetic control was key in Clostridium selection as dominant species in all microbial communities. Lower and unstable H2 production were associated with a higher relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae family members. Our results allow a better understanding of H2 production in continuous systems and how the microbial community is affected. This provides key information for efficient selection of operating conditions for future applications.

Supramolecular Anchoring of Octahedral Molybdenum Clusters onto Graphene and Their Synergies in Photocatalytic Water Reduction.

Dihydrogen (H2) production from sunlight should become one of the most important energy production means in the future. To reach this goal, low-cost and efficient photocatalysts still need to be discovered. Here we show that red near-IR luminescent metal cluster anions, once combined with pyrene-containing cations, are able to photocatalytically produce molecular hydrogen from water. The pyrene moieties act simultaneously as energy transmitters and as supramolecular linkers between the cluster anions and graphene. This association results in a hybrid material combining the emission abilities of pyrene and cluster moieties with the electronic conduction efficiency of graphene. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) studies show that this association induces a significant increase of H2 production compared to that produced separately by clusters or graphene. Considering the versatility of the strategy described to design this photocatalytic hybrid material, transition-metal clusters are promising candidates to develop new, environmentally friendly, and low-cost photocatalysts for HER.

Influence of pH on Molecular Hydrogen (H2) Generation and Reaction Rates during Serpentinization of Peridotite and Olivine

Serpentinization produces molecular hydrogen (H2) that is capable of supporting communities of microorganisms in hydrothermal fields, which suggests that serpentinization may be closely related to the origin of life at the early history of the Earth and possibly other planets. In this study, serpentinization experiments were performed at 300 °C and 3.0 kbar with natural olivine and peridotite as starting reactants to quantify the influence of acidic and alkaline solutions on the processes of serpentinization. The results reveal that acidic and alkaline solutions greatly influence molecular hydrogen (H2) generation and the rates of serpentinization. Acidic (pH = 2.50) and alkaline solutions (pH = 13.5) increased H2 production and the rates of peridotite serpentinization. Highly acidic solutions (2 M HCl), however, decreased the production of H2 after peridotite serpentinization by around two orders of magnitude. The decrease in H2 production was associated with a sharp decline in the rates of reaction; e.g., when peridotite was reacted with neutral solutions (0.5 M NaCl), 88% of reaction progress was achieved after an experimental duration of 27 days, and the reaction extent decreased by ~50% for experiments with highly acidic solutions (2 M HCl) over the same period. In contrast, for experiments with solely olivine, highly acidic solutions (2 M HCl) promoted the rates of olivine serpentinization and H2 production. The contrasting effect of highly acidic solutions (2 M HCl) on the processes of olivine and peridotite serpentinization may reflect the influence of pyroxene minerals, which could release SiO2 during peridotite serpentinization and, consequently, hydrogen generation and reaction rates may decrease. The experimental results of this study suggest that H2 production and the rates of serpentinization can be greatly influenced by acidic and alkaline solutions and co-existing minerals (e.g., pyroxene).

H2 production from co-pyrolysis/gasification of waste plastics and biomass under novel catalyst Ni-CaO-C

Energy security and environmental pollution have been important topics over the world. With depletion of traditional fossil fuels, it is necessary to find new kinds of substitute energies that are green and renewable. Co-pyrolysis/gasification of mixture of waste (i.e. plastics) and biomass is a potential solution and H2 is an ideal energy carrier with wide range of use. This paper aims to develop a new catalyst Ni-CaO-C and to examine its performance under optimal operating conditions of pyrolysis/gasification of plastics and biomass for H2 production. Experimental studies adjusting Ni loads and support ratios of catalyst were performed to explore the catalytic activity and CO2 adsorption capability of the new catalyst. Operating conditions such as feedstock ratio, pyrolysis temperature, reforming temperature and water injection flowrate were also examined experimentally to find optimal operating conditions. Consequently, experiment results indicated that high H2 production (86.74 mol% and 115.33 mmol/g) and low CO2 concentration (7.31 mol%) in the gaseous products can be achieved with new catalyst Ni-CaO-C under the optimal operating conditions. Therefore, this study points to effective new approaches to increase H2 production from the pyrolysis/gasification of waste plastics and biomass.

Demonstration of hydrogen production in a hybrid lignite-assisted solid oxide electrolysis cell

A Ni-YSZ/YSZ/Ag–Pt cell was used to demonstrate the concept of high temperature lignite-assisted electrolysis in hybrid (combined solid oxide and molten carbonate) operation. To assess the performance of the hybrid concept, the same cell was also used for lignite-assisted electrolysis in absence of an anodic carbonate load, as well as for fuel cell measurements using H2 and lignite as fuels, the latter both with and free of molten carbonates. In fuel cell operation, the hybrid direct lignite fuel cell obtained 45% higher maximum power density than the H2 fed SOFC and 160% higher power density than the lignite fuel cell without carbonates. For high temperature electrolysis, the hybrid concept of admixed lignite and carbonates at the anode led to a 350% higher current density (up to 508 mA∙cm−2, at 1.95 V), compared to the lignite-assisted operation in absence of carbonates (145 mA∙cm−2, at 1.95 V). Thus, the anodic addition of carbonates within the same cell, increased H2 production 3.5 times. This was accompanied by an equivalent increase of the anodic fuel consumption, and the cell's efficiency was essentially unaffected. Nonetheless, significant anodic and cathodic resistances at low overpotentials restricted electrolysis performance and efficiency, in either the absence or the presence of carbonates. These resistances, most likely due to both the cathodic steam activation and the anodic “shuttle” of the CO intermediate, were drastically alleviated at higher overpotentials. The presence of carbonates caused an earlier and more rapid decrease of the anodic area specific resistance, to much lower values at high overpotentials, resulting in the considerably higher performance of the hybrid mode.

Hydrogen production from steam gasification of tableted biomass in molten eutectic carbonates

The steam gasification of tableted biomass for H2 production in molten salts was investigated under different conditions. The results showed that the ternary molten carbonates (32 wt% Li2CO3, 33 wt% Na2CO3 and 35 wt% K2CO3) acted as heat medium and catalyst in the gasification process. The use of molten salts could significantly increase total gas and H2 production and simultaneously decrease the concentrations of CO and CH4 in the product gas, and also decrease the yield of condensable tar. The increase in gasification temperature and mass ratio of steam to biomass (S/B) was beneficial for H2 production process. However, excessive steam contributed slightly to the increase in H2 production and largely increased the energy consumption. The optimal S/B ratio was found to be 1.0. The feedstock after tabletting could completely immersed in molten salts, which improved the contact between biomass and molten salts and thus favored the biomass gasification for H2 production. When biomass particle size was 0.25 g/piece, the yield of H2 reached 807.53 mL/g biomass.

Methanogenesis stimulation and inhibition for the production of different target electrobiofuels in microbial electrolysis cells through an on-demand control strategy using the coenzyme M and 2-bromoethanesulfonate

Electron allocation through the suppression or the stimulation of methanogenesis is critical for microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) to produce the desired target product (e.g., CH4 or H2). In this study, selective methanogenesis control using the coenzyme M (CoM) and 2-bromoethanesulfonate (2-BES) was investigated in a two-chambered MEC to evaluate the effect of CoM and 2-BES on the production of different electrobiofuels, net energy conversion efficiency and microbial community structure. Because the CoM is a crucial methyl-group carrier in the final process of methanogenesis, it was postulated that CoM would stimulate methanogenic activity at the anode, while a structural analog of the CoM (i.e., 2-BES) was expected to improve cathodic H2 yield using electrons conserved because of methanogen inhibition (electron equivalence: 8 mol e− = 1 mol CH4 = 4 mol H2). CoM injection in MECs significantly enhanced their CH4 production rate, purity, and yield by 4.5-fold, 14.5%, and 76.1%, respectively, compared to the control. Moreover, microbial community analysis indicated that Methanosaeta, the major acetoclastic methanogen, continued to dominate the microbial community but steadily decreased in relative abundance after the CoM injection. On the other hand, drastic increases in hydrogenotrophic methanogens, such as Methanoculleus and Methanolinea, were observed along with potential syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria. In contrast, CH4 production in the 2-BES injected trials was significantly inhibited by 79.5%, resulting in a corresponding increase of H2 production by 145.5% compared to the control. Unlike the CoM, the microbial community did not noticeably change when 2-BES was injected, although the population size gradually decreased over time. Also, a single injection of CoM and 2-BES, even at low concentrations (500 μM), enabled the desired allocation of electrons as characterized by a high sensitivity, fast response, and negligible interference. In terms of energy conversion efficiency, methanogenesis stimulation approach resulted in higher net energy production than inhibition approach, whereas the remained electrons were not fully converted to hydrogen in case of the inhibition trial, thus producing less energy.

Effects of the Photosystem II Inhibitors CCCP and DCMU on Hydrogen Production by the Unicellular Halotolerant Cyanobacterium Aphanothece halophytica.

The unicellular halotolerant cyanobacterium Aphanothece halophytica is a potential dark fermentative producer of molecular hydrogen (H2) that produces very little H2 under illumination. One factor limiting the H2 photoproduction of this cyanobacterium is an inhibition of bidirectional hydrogenase activity by oxygen (O2) obtained from splitting water molecules via photosystem II activity. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the photosystem II inhibitors carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP) and 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) on H2 production of A. halophytica under light and dark conditions and on photosynthetic and respiratory activities. The results showed that A. halophytica treated with CCCP and DCMU produced H2 at three to five times the rate of untreated cells, when exposed to light. The highest H2 photoproduction rates, 2.26 ± 0.24 and 3.63 ± 0.26 μmol H2 g−1 dry weight h−1, were found in cells treated with 0.5 μM CCCP and 50 μM DCMU, respectively. Without inhibitor treatment, A. halophytica incubated in the dark showed a significant increase in H2 production compared with cells that were incubated in the light. Only CCCP treatment increased H2 production of A. halophytica during dark incubation, because CCCP functions as an uncoupling agent of oxidative phosphorylation. The highest dark fermentative H2 production rate of 39.50 ± 2.13 μmol H2 g−1 dry weight h−1 was found in cells treated with 0.5 μM CCCP after 2 h of dark incubation. Under illumination, CCCP and DCMU inhibited chlorophyll fluorescence, resulting in a low level of O2, which promoted bidirectional hydrogenase activity in A. halophytica cells. In addition, only CCCP enhanced the respiration rate, further reducing the O2 level. In contrast, DCMU reduced the respiration rate in A. halophytica.

Porous CuS/ZnS microspheres derived from a bimetallic metal-organic framework as efficient photocatalysts for H2 production

In this work, porous CuS/ZnS microspheres have been successfully fabricated through a facile metal-organic framework (MOF) derived route. The preparation process involved a solvothermal method for synthesis of bimetallic MOF (Cu-Zn-MOF) and subsequently vulcanization treatment to transform into CuS/ZnS microspheres. The MOF-derived CuS/ZnS microspheres inherited the porous skeleton of the Cu-Zn-MOF precursor, which significantly enhanced the utilization of light and synchronously provided plentiful exposed catalytic active sites. The obtained CuS/ZnS microspheres exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production via water splitting. The optimized CuS/ZnS photocatalyst demonstrated a H2-production rate of 310.43 μmol h−1 under visible light with an apparent quantum efficiency of 8.5% at 420 nm. Such excellent photocatalytic H2-evolution activity was ascribed to the interfacial charge transfer from the valence band of ZnS to CuS, which facilitated the efficient electron-hole separation and transportation. This study provides a strategy for the rational design of MOF-derived photocatalysts to dramatically increase H2 production efficiency.

Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation and hydrogen evolution from ethanolamine nuclear wastewater by a liquid phase plasma process

Ethanolamine in a wastewater which is released from nuclear power plant was decomposed using a plasma discharged into the solution directly. Ni-TiO2 supported on mesoporous materials were employed as a photocatalyst. The photocatalytic reaction using the liquid phase plasma led to a degradation of ethanolamine with hydrogen evolution, simultaneously. The ethanolamine in the wastewater was degraded over 90% on the photocatalytic decomposition reaction by irradiation of liquid phase plasma. The rate of hydrogen evolution increased significantly with Ni incorporation on TiO2 because the bandgap was reduced with Ni incorporation on TiO2. Incorporating Ni on TiO2 nanocrystallites brought out an improvement of the ethanolamine degradation with hydrogen generation. The rate of hydrogen evolution in the ethanolamine-containing aqueous solution was increased in comparison with that in pure water. Additional hydrogen evolution by the photodecomposition of ethanolamine was attributed to the increasing H2 production.

Reaction schemes of barium ferrite in biomass chemical looping gasification for hydrogen-enriched syngas generation via an outer-inner looping redox reaction mechanism

Abstract The objective of this study was to build an efficient outer-inner looping redox reaction mechanism called steam recycled biomass chemical looping gasification (SR-BCLG) for H2 production by using BaFe2O4 as an oxygen carrier (OC). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed the phase changes of BaFe2O4 in the SR-BCLG process can be oxidized to its initial state stimulated by steam. In addition, the impacts on the temperature, water injection rate (steam/biomass ratio) and OC loading were investigated. The maximum H2 production of 28.5 mol/kg· biomass was achieved in the 60 min of gasification with a BaFe2O4 load amount of 10 wt%, which is an increase in H2 production of 109.6% compared with the no-OC biomass gasification process under the optimal conditions. Durative high production of H2-enriched syngas was obtained during the cyclic stability tests, indicating the significant redox durability and high H2-generation properties of BaFe2O4. The XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TG) characterizations revealed the high stability of BaFe2O4, which can be ascribed to the existence of Ba2+. The bimetal functional BaFe2O4 allows for an innovative method of outer-inner looping redox reactions for continuous H2-enriched syngas generation in the SR-BCLG process.

Rational design of Pd-TiO2/g-C3N4 heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic activity through interfacial charge transfer

A hybrid heterojunction-based photocatalyst is synthesized by an electrostatic self-assembly strategy including surface modification and controlled metal deposition. The interfacial contact was made by mixing negatively charged anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with positively charged g-C3N4. Visible-light deposition of Pd nanoparticles largely on TiO2 was made possible due to the charge transfer from C3N4 (excited by visible light) to the conduction band of TiO2 reducing Pd ions on contact with its surface. In order to further test the efficiency of this cascade of electron transfer across the conduction bands of the two semiconductors, photocatalytic H2 production from water was studied. Upon optimizing the ratio of the two semiconductors, increased H2 production rates were observed and attributed to enhanced charge separation. Catalysts were studied by a variety of techniques in order to probe into their properties and link them to activity. The reaction rate, under visible-light excitation, of the best sample showed an 8-fold enhancement when compared to that of Pd-C3N4 in identical conditions and the highest apparent quantum yield of 31% was achieved by a 0.1%Pd/20%TiO2/C3N4 sample in a 420- to 443-nm range.

Optimizing one-dimensional TiO2 for photocatalytic hydrogen production from a water-ethanol mixture and other electron donors

This work is focused on synthesizing and employing one-dimensional (1D) titanium dioxide (TiO2) for hydrogen (H2) production. Based on using electron donors (EDs) (ethanol, methanol, fomic acid and 1,2,3 propanetriol), the increased H2 production, when compared to P25 TiO2 nanoparticles, was due to the large specific surface area (SSA) and enhanced electron mobility of 1D TiO2. The impact of the 1D TiO2 synthesis reaction conditions (temperature, NaOH concentration and the TiO2 precursor concentration) on the photocatalytic H2 production rate was evaluated using a 3-factor 3-level Box Behnken design (BBD). The BBD model demonstrated that the temperature and the NaOH concentration significantly affected the 1D TiO2 phase structure, crystal size, SSA, bandgap and the photocatalytic H2 production rate. The phase structure and crystal size of 1D TiO2 were key factors affecting the H2 production rate. 1D TiO2 containing an anatase phase with a mean crystal size of 20.1 ± 0.2 nm was synthesized at 126 °C, 15 M NaOH and 49 g L−1 TiO2. The maximum H2 production rate of 475 ± 12 μmol·h−1 (quantum efficiency (ε) = 20.2 ± 0.5%) for the 1D TiO2 sample was significantly enhanced when compared to commercial TiO2 P25. The H2 production rate for the optimized 1D TiO2 was significantly enhanced by decorating the structure with Pt and Au. Hydrothermal synthesized of 1D TiO2 provided an efficient and low cost method for producing H2 from ethanol, methanol, fomic acid and 1,2,3 propanetriol.