By: Muhammad Tahoor Hamdani
Student, Amity Institute of Nanotechnology, Amity University Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Humanity is currently facing an unprecedented challenge: anthropogenic climate change. This complex phenomenon is driven by a multitude of factors, including scientific, psychological, societal, and social dimensions, among others. the release of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, and PFCs have increased significantly. Since the industrial revolution, atmospheric CO2 levels have surged by 50%. Although gases like CO2 and CH4 occur naturally and are essential for maintaining the Earth’s temperature, their rapid increase is primarily driven by human activities, which are unnatural. This surge has caused substantial harm to humanity, biodiversity, and ecological balance. Major contributors to this increase include the extensive use of fossil fuels for energy and widespread deforestation. In response, scientists worldwide are actively seeking environmentally friendly alternative energy sources. Hydrogen fuel is a promising alternative, with several production methods available, including Steam Methane Reforming (SMR), water electrolysis, Photoelectrochemical (P.E.C.) water splitting, and microbial biomass conversion. Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) is the most cost-effective and commonly used method among these techniques. However, SMR generates significant CO2 emissions, thus contributing to climate change. Water electrolysis, on the other hand, can produce extremely pure hydrogen and, when powered by renewable energy, is a clean method. Nonetheless, it remains expensive due to the high costs of electricity and electrolyzers. Another promising method that has gained attention is Photoelectrochemical (P.E.C.) water splitting. This article focused on the P.E.C. water splitting method. This article explored the use of this method to generate hydrogen, employing a range of photocatalysts. To achieve this, we developed semiconductor nanocomposites to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of hydrogen production through P.E.C. water splitting. In this article, various experiments using different photocatalysts and developed semiconductor nanocomposites were conducted to optimize the process. The results of Article have been informative and unique, providing valuable insights into the optimization of P.E.C. water splitting for efficient hydrogen production.
Keywords: Semiconductor nanocomposites, photoelectrochemical water splitting, TiO2, different concentrations of Ag doped TiO2, BiVO4
Citation:
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