Enhanced hydrogen production from aqueous methanol solution using TiO₂/Cu as photocatalysts

Abstract

The photocatalytic hydrogen production from aqueous methanol solution using titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was investigated in the addition of metal particles including copper, lead, tin, and zinc. The results show that only the addition of copper particles enhances the hydrogen production. The copper usage and reaction temperature were further optimized for TiO₂/Cu photocatalyts. Under the optimal conditions, the hydrogen production using TiO₂/Cu as photocatalysts is approximately 68 times higher than that obtained with only TiO₂.

Keywords

photocatalytic hydrogen generation / methanol / copper particles / TiO₂ / metal-semiconductor interface

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Acknowledgements

The present research was partly supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 24510096 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. Support was provided to P. G. as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow of The Public Foundation of Chubu Science and Technology Center. All experiments were conducted at Mie University. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the supporting organizations.

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