Preparation and characterization of α-Fe2O3 supported clay as a novel photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. (23rd April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mekatel, Elhadj; Trari, Mohamed; Nibou, Djamel; Sebai, Ibtissam; Amorkrane, Samira
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 44:Number 21(2019)
• Page Start: 10309
• Page End: 10315
• Publication Date: 2019-04-23
• Subjects: Photoactivity -- Hydrogen -- Clay -- α-Fe2O3 -- Water reduction -- Visible light; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.03.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: Improvement in the hydrogen evolution is reported over α-Fe2 O3 supported on Algerian natural clay. The hetero-system is prepared by impregnation and calcination at 450 °C. It was characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM analysis, FTIR spectroscopy and photo electrochemistry. The hematite Fe2 O3 crystallizes in the corundum structure and exhibits n -type conductivity with a flat band potential of −0.88 VSCE . Hence, the photo electrons located in Fe2 O3 -CB (−1 VSCE ) have high ability to reduce water into hydrogen. α-Fe2 O3 gets effectively dispersed in the clay and the photoactivity increases with increasing its content. SO3 2−, working as hole scavenger, provides an absolute protection against the photo corrosion and favors the charges separation. The best performance of H2 evolution occurs at alkaline pH on 10% Fe2 O3 /clay with a liberation rate 0.121 μmol/mg/min and a quantum efficiency of 1.2%. Highlights: The hetero-system α-Fe2 O3 10%/clay was synthetized by nitrate route. The conduction band of α-Fe2 O3 (−0.5 VSCE ) is suitable positioned with respect to H2 level. The hetero-system show a high performance for H2 evolution upon visible light, at alkaline pH.