Photoelectrocatalytic Glucose Oxidation to Promote Hydrogen Production over Periodically Ordered TiO2 Nanotube Arrays Assembled of Pd Quantum Dots. (20th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Yajun; Zhao, Guohua; Shi, Huijie; Zhang, Ya-nan; Huang, Wenna; Huang, Xiaofeng; Wu, Zhongyi
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 174(2015)
• Page Start: 93
• Page End: 101
• Publication Date: 2015-08-20
• Subjects: Hydrogen production -- Photoelectrocatalytic oxidation -- Glucose -- Periodically ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays -- Pd quantum dots; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2015.05.094
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Solar-driven PEC glucose oxidation to promote hydrogen production was presented. The excellent PEC activity of Pd QDs@TNTAs was investigated. The rate of hydrogen production from glucose was about 15 times than water. A low-cost and efficient method in renewables-to-hydrogen conversion was put forward. Abstract: The development of highly efficient and low-cost approaches for catalytic hydrogen production from renewable energy is of tremendous importance for a truly sustainable hydrogen-based energy carrier in future life. Herein, the probability of utilizing solar light to product hydrogen from biomass derivative, glucose, was systematically demonstrated by using the periodically ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) assembled of Palladium quantum dots (Pd QDs), i.e. Pd QDs@ TNTAs as photoanode. The results showed that remarkably increased photocurrent density was obtained in the glucose solution compared to the pure KOH electrolyte over as-prepared photoelectrode, which indicated that the glucose could be faster oxidized than water oxidation, and thus could promote the hydrogen production on Pt cathode. The yield of hydrogen production from glucose oxidation reached as high as 164.8 μmol cm −1 over Pd QDs@TNTAs photoanode and Pt cathode system (denoted as Pd QDs@TNTAs/Pt) under the solar light irradiation for 6 h, which was about 15 times higher than that from pure water splitting. The superior hydrogen production performance could be attributed to the less endergonic process of the glucose oxidation than water, as well as the efficient synergistic photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) glucose oxidation over Pd QDs@TNTAs photoanode which possesses excellent photoelectrochemical performance and structure characteristics. Moreover, a probable mechanism for the PEC hydrogen production from biomass derivatives oxidation was proposed and discussed.