Photochemical Systems for Solar-to-Fuel Production

Ya Liu; Feng Wang; Zihao Jiao; Shengjie Bai; Haoran Qiu; Liejin Guo

doi:10.1007/s41918-022-00132-y

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2022, Vol. 5 ›› Issue (3) DOI: 10.1007/s41918-022-00132-y

Review Article

Photochemical Systems for Solar-to-Fuel Production

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¹International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

^f lj-guo@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Ya Liu

received his Ph.D. degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Liang Zhao. Currently, he is an assistant professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University. From 2015 to 2016, he was a visiting scholar at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Joel Ager. His research interests focus on the development of new materials and test-bed prototypes based on abundant elements for solar fuel production.

Feng Wang

received his B.S. in 2011 from Nanchang University and is currently a Ph.D. student in Prof. Liejin Guo’s group at Xi’an Jiaotong University. His research interests focus on designing and fabricating novel photoelectrodes/catalysts with high selectivity, high stability for photoelectrochemical/electrochemical CO₂ reduction.

Zihao Jiao

is now a Ph.D. candidate in the International Research Center for Renewable Energy, as well as the State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University under the supervision of Prof. Liejin Guo. His current research interests include the mechanism investigation of the electrochemical process, supercritical water structure exploring, and theoretical design for energy conversion and storage materials.

Shengjie Bai

is currently a Ph.D. student in Xi’an Jiaotong University under the supervision of Prof. Liejin Guo. He received his Bachelor’s degree (2014) and Master’s degree (2017) in Fuzhou University, China. His research interests focus on designing and fabricating novel photocatalysts with high selectivity, high stability for directly solar-driven CO₂ conversion.

Haoran Qiu

received his Bachelor’s degree in the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2017. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Liejin Guo. His research focuses on electrocatalysts, GDE-based electrochemical reactors and multiphysics simulation strategies.

Liejin Guo

is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is now a professor of Xi’an Jiaotong University and serving as the director of the State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering. He is also the founding director of the International Research Center for Renewable Energy. He received his Ph.D. degree in Thermal Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University. His current research interest is focused on the fundamental theories and technologies related to power and mechanical engineering, energy conversion/utilization/saving, and emission reduction, especially on the new energy conversion routes, theories, technologies, key equipment, and pilot systems for direct thermochemical and photocatalytic hydrogen production.

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Abstract

The photochemical system, which utilizes only solar energy and H₂O/CO₂ to produce hydrogen/carbon-based fuels, is considered a promising approach to reduce CO₂ emissions and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. To date, numerous photochemical systems have been developed to obtain a viable solar-to-fuel production system with sufficient energy efficiency. However, more effort is still needed to meet the requirements of industrial implementation. In this review, we systematically discuss a typical photochemical system for solar-to-fuel production, from classical theories and fundamental mechanisms to raw material selection, reaction condition optimization, and unit device/system advancement, from the viewpoint of ordered energy conversion. State-of-the-art photochemical systems, including photocatalytic, photovoltaic-electrochemical, photoelectrochemical, solar thermochemical, and other emerging systems, are summarized. We highlight the existing bottlenecks and discuss the developing trend of this technology. Finally, optimization strategies and new opportunities are proposed to enhance photochemical systems with higher energy efficiency.

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Ya Liu, Feng Wang, Zihao Jiao, Shengjie Bai, Haoran Qiu, Liejin Guo. Photochemical Systems for Solar-to-Fuel Production. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2022, 5(3): DOI:10.1007/s41918-022-00132-y