Production of Hydrogen via Water Splitting Using Photocatalytic and Photoelectrocatalytic Route

Abstract

Hydrogen has been intensively explored recently as an energy carrier to meet the growing demand for green energy across the globe. One of the most difficult and significant subjects in hydrogen energy technology is efficiently creating hydrogen from water by utilizing renewable resources such as solar light. Solar-based hydrogen production comprises several routes, namely, photocatalytic, photoelectrocatalytic, and photobiological decomposition. An efficient photocatalyst is desired to accomplish the above objective by utilizing the first two routes with a minimal rate of recombination of photo-generated charge carriers. In this chapter, strategies for preventing recombination of charge carriers in photocatalysts and the development of photocatalysts have been focused on, and its utilization in the procedure for the production of hydrogen via photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic processes is described.