We report here on the sustainable production of hydrogen by the use of nano-ordered TiO2 arrays doped with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). The presence of a nano-architecture in TiO2 substrate may strongly improve the ability to disperse the Au NPs on its surface, which act as electron-attractive centres for the reduction of protons. We prepared the TiO2 nanotube arrays by controlled anodic oxidation starting from Ti foils and deposited the Au NPs by pre-preparing gold colloidal solutions. The samples were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), UV-Visible Diffusive Reflectance Spectroscopy, Cyclic Voltammetry and Chronoamperometry. Then, they were tested within our homemade photo-electrochemical (PEC) reactors in water photo-splitting, as well as in photo-dehydrogenation of ethanol for H2 production. A solar simulator was used to evaluate their photo-responses in different absorption regions (ultraviolet or visible part). Results evidenced that smaller Au NPs strongly enhanced titania performances under visible light irradiation, opening the route of a feasible implementation of the PEC devices in the energy recovery from organic waste solutions (i.e. from biomass processing) that are too dilute to be processed by conventional routes.

A sustainable production of H2 by water splitting and photo-reforming of organic wastes on Au/TiO2 nanotube arrays

AMPELLI, Claudio;GENOVESE, CHIARA;LANZAFAME, PAOLA;PERATHONER, Siglinda;CENTI, Gabriele
2014-01-01

Abstract

We report here on the sustainable production of hydrogen by the use of nano-ordered TiO2 arrays doped with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). The presence of a nano-architecture in TiO2 substrate may strongly improve the ability to disperse the Au NPs on its surface, which act as electron-attractive centres for the reduction of protons. We prepared the TiO2 nanotube arrays by controlled anodic oxidation starting from Ti foils and deposited the Au NPs by pre-preparing gold colloidal solutions. The samples were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), UV-Visible Diffusive Reflectance Spectroscopy, Cyclic Voltammetry and Chronoamperometry. Then, they were tested within our homemade photo-electrochemical (PEC) reactors in water photo-splitting, as well as in photo-dehydrogenation of ethanol for H2 production. A solar simulator was used to evaluate their photo-responses in different absorption regions (ultraviolet or visible part). Results evidenced that smaller Au NPs strongly enhanced titania performances under visible light irradiation, opening the route of a feasible implementation of the PEC devices in the energy recovery from organic waste solutions (i.e. from biomass processing) that are too dilute to be processed by conventional routes.
2014
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/2687168
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 11
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 12
social impact