Abstract:
Hydrogen is an ideal energy source for the future due to its versatile application and environmentally friendly properties. Photocatalytic water splitting is a chemical reaction for producing hydrogen by using water and solar energy. This work focused on hydrogen production from photocatalytic water splitting under visible light irradiation using Eosin Y-sensitized mesoporous-assembled TiO2-SiO2, TiO2-ZrO2, and SrTixZr1-xO3 photocatalysts with bimetallic Pt-Ag loading were synthesized by the sol-gel process with the aid of a structure-directing surfactant at the Ti-to-Si molar ratio of 97:3 calcined at 500 °C, Ti-to-Zr molar ratio of 93:7 calcined at 500 °C, and SrTixZr1-xO3 with Ti-to-Zr molar ratio of 93:7 calcined at 700 °C. The photocatalytic activity, including phase composition, and Pt and Ag loadings, were investigated. The experimental results showed that the bimetallic Pt-Ag loadings with suitable contents by the photochemical deposition method were found to greatly enhance the photocatalytic activity of the assembled 0.97TiO2-0.03SiO2, 0.93TiO2-0.07ZrO2, and SrTi0.93Zr0.07O3 photocatalyst.
