Solar Hydrogen Generation using Abundant Materials via Membrane-less Electrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract

Abstract Storing and delivering green hydrogen produced using solar energy possess exceptional potential to supplement and dispense the share of promising but sporadic renewable energy. In this scenario, robust materials capable of delivering solar driven electrochemical water splitting for hydrogen generation provide intriguing protocol that are applicable to all sectors of energy., Electrochemical water splitting is conventional and most prevalent technique for hydrogen generation, which utilizes platinum-based materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, these palatinum based noble metal catalysts possess poor cyclic stability limiting its commercial application for economical hydrogen generation. Therefore, development of efficient non-noble metal based electro-catalysts are urgently needed to produce cost-competitive hydrogen energy. Several kinds of non-noble metal based heterogeneous electro-catalysts, including carbides, sulphides, selenides, oxides, and phosphides have been developed and studied. Unique physicochemical properties of carbon materials make them promising candidates to support catalysts. In this paper, molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) nanomaterial catalysts have been synthesized, deposited on carbon fibre (C-fibre) based material and then used for solar hydrogen generation by membrane-less electrochemical water splitting. Solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency is found to be 2.46% at an irradiation level of 430 W/m2 and working temperature of 35°C.