Titania nanotubes (TNT) prepared by anodization of Ti foils were used for water splitting in a standalone cell. The concentration polarization between the anode side (1M NaOH) and cathode side (0.5 M H2SO4) ensured that the water splitting reaction could take place with no external bias and separate H2 and O2 evolution could be achieved. The destructi...

Two processes to effect splitting of the water molecule by means of an external heat source are competing for adoption, for the long-term production of hydrogen: high-temperature electrolysis, and splitting the water molecule through a succession of chemical reactions: a thermochemical cycle. Both processes form part of a strategy of voluntary reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions, and of alter...

Energy harvested directly from sunlight offers a desirable approach toward fulfilling, with minimal environmental impact, the need for clean energy. Solar energy is a decentralized and inexhaustible natural resource, with the magnitude of the available solar power striking the earth’s surface at any one instant equal to 130 million 500 MW power plants.1 However, several important goals need to ...

Titania nanotubes (TNT) prepared by anodization of Ti foils were used for water splitting in a standalone cell. The concentration polarization between the anode side (1M NaOH) and cathode side (0.5 M H2SO4) ensured that the water splitting reaction could take place with no external bias and separate H2 and O2 evolution could be achieved. The destructi...

The development of clean and renewable energy materials as alternatives to fossil fuels is foreseen as a potential solution to the crucial problems of environmental pollution and energy shortages. Hydrogen is an ideal energy material for the future, and water splitting using solar/electrical energy is one way to generate hydrogen. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous materials ...

Direct splitting of pure water into hydrogen and oxygen was demonstrated using the rutile TiO2 powder under band gap irradiation. The successful water splitting results at least in part from the intrinsic properties of the rutile surface that is less sensitive to photoreduction of O2, a reverse reaction in water splitting.

Since the 1970s, splitting water using solar energy has been a focus of great attention as a possible means for converting solar energy to chemical energy in the form of clean and renewable hydrogen fuel. Approaches to solar water splitting include photocatalytic water splitting with homogeneous or heterogeneous photocatalysts, photoelectrochemical or photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) water splitting...

Ab initio calculations predict that pyridine (Py) can act as a photo-catalyst to split water by the absorption of a UV photon following the reaction Py-H2O + hν → PyH˙ + OH˙. To test this prediction, we performed two types of experiments: in the first, we characterize the electronic spectroscopy of the PyH˙ radical in the gas phase. In the second, we evidence the reaction through the UV excitat...

Graphitic carbon nitride based polymers, being metal-free, accessible, environmentally benign and sustainable, have been widely investigated for artificial photosynthesis in recent years for the photocatalytic splitting of water to produce hydrogen fuel. However, the photocatalytic stoichiometric splitting of pure water into H2 and O2 with a molecular ratio of 2 : 1 is far from easy, and is usu...