Photothermal catalytic H₂ production over hierarchical porous CaTiO₃ with plasmonic gold nanoparticles

Abstract

The synergistic promotion by photocatalysis and thermocatalysis is a promising approach for sustainable hydrogen (H₂) production. Herein, we rationally design a perovskite-based catalyst with three-dimensionally ordered macroporous structure (3DOM CaTiO₃-Au) for photothermal catalytic H₂ production from different substrates. The hierarchical 3DOM structure facilitates light harvesting and mass diffusion of the substrates, while the gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) promote charge separation. The photogenerated and hot electrons are oriented accumulated on the surface of Au NPs. The non-metallic gold species [Au(I)] show more activity for H₂ evolution. As a result, 3DOM CaTiO₃-Au exhibits excellent activity for H₂ production from glycerol and other substrates with hydroxyl groups. The present work demonstrates a feasible approach to improve sustainable H₂ production by rationally designing and fabricating efficient photothermal catalysts.

Keywords

3DOM CaTiO₃ / plasmonic Au NPs / photothermal catalysis / H₂ production / mechanism investigation

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