Search results for "WATER SPLITTING"
showing 10 items of 71 documents
Water splitting through model surfaces of metal oxides : ferroelectric polarization towards water adsorption processes
2019
The properties of out-of-plane polarized BaTiO3(001) thin films were investigated from first-principles calculations and photoemission spectroscopy. Firstly, density functional theory calculations (DFT) were used to unravel the nature of the Pt(001)/BaTiO3(001) interface. In particular, the influence of the substrate on the ferroelectric properties of the BaTiO3 overlayer has been studied. Among the results, it can be pointed that platinum tends to increase the ferroelectric domain size of BaTiO3.Then, the adsorption of water on BaTiO3 was described by means of DFT calculations. The impact of the polarization as well as the influence of the nature of the surface termination on water adsorpt…
Electronic and optical properties of pristine, N- and S-doped water-covered TiO2 nanotube surfaces
2019
For rational design and improvement of electronic and optical properties of water-splitting photocatalysts, the ability to control the band edge positions relative to the water redox potentials and the photoresponse as a function of environmental conditions is essential. We combine ab initio molecular dynamics simulations with ab initio many-body theoretical calculations to predict the bandgap and band edge energies, as well as the absorption spectrum of pristine and N- and S-doped TiO2 nanotubes using the DFT+U and G0W0 approaches. Both levels of theory show similar trends, and N+S-codoping appears to be the optimal system for photocatalytic water splitting both in dry and humid conditions…
Nanostructured electrodes for hydrogen production in alkaline electrolyzer
2018
Abstract Ever-widespread employment of renewable energy sources, such as wind and sun, request the simultaneous use of effective energy storage systems owing to the intermittent and unpredictable energy generation by these sources. The most reliable storage systems currently under investigation are batteries and electrochemical cells for hydrogen production from water splitting. Both systems store chemical energy which can be converted on demand. The low power density is the weakness of the batteries while the high production cost limits currently the wide use of hydrogen from electrochemical water splitting. In this work, attention was focused on the use of nanostructured Ni as a cathode f…
Novel TiO2-WO3 self-ordered nanotubes used as photoanodes: Influence of Na2WO4 and H2O2 concentration during electrodeposition
2021
[EN] Hybrid TiO2-WO3 nanostructures has been synthesized by electrochemical anodization under controlled hydrodynamic conditions followed by electrodeposition in the presence of different contents of Na2WO4 (5, 15 and 25 mM) and H2O2 (20, 30 and 40 mM). The influence of the electrolyte used for electrodeposition on the morphology, crystalline structure and photoelectrochemical response for water splitting has been evaluated through Field Emission Electronic Microscopy, High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, Confocal Raman Spectroscopy, Grazing Incidence X Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Atomic Force microscopy and photocurrent versus potential measurements. Add…
Photocatalytic H2 production over inverse opal TiO2 catalysts
2019
Abstract The influence of BiVO4 and CuO on the chemico-physical properties of TiO2-based systems is reported. The performances of these systems were investigated in the photocatalytic H2 production both under UV and solar light irradiation. The characterization data pointed out that the obtained TiO2 samples have highly porous inverse opal structures with interconnected macropores. Inverse opal TiO2 exhibited higher activity in the H2 production than the commercial TiO2 due to the peculiar porosity that allows photons to enter inside the photocatalyst. A further improvement in terms of photoactivity was verified by addition of increasing amounts of BiVO4. On the contrary a small CuO content…
Cathodoluminescence characterization of ZnO/ZnS nanostructures anodized under hydrodynamic conditions
2018
[EN] ZnO/ZnS nanostructures were successfully synthesized by a simple electrochemical anodization of zinc in a glycerol based electrolyte containing sulfide-ammonium fluoride. The influence of different hydrodynamic conditions and anodization potentials during anodization on the morphological and electronic properties of the obtained ZnO/ZnS nanostructures was studied. The anodized samples were characterized using confocal Raman microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscopy (FE-SEM), cathodoluminescence (CL), and photoelectrochemical water splitting tests under standard AM 1.5 conditions. The results showed that hydrodynamic conditions and higher potenti…
Solution-processed Nickel Oxide electrocatalyst for Electrochemical Water Splitting
2020
Synthesis of Multifunctional Inorganic Materials
2018
Abstract Both, novel and older widely and routinely used methods of chemical synthesis fornew multifunctional inorganic (nano) materials with different sizes and morphologies are reviewed and summarized in this chapter. Illustrative examples of micro- and nanoparticle preparations are provided regarding different applications: renewable and sustainable energy harvesting, water splitting and hydrogen generation, fuel and solar cell devices, luminescent materials for white light–emitting diodes and clean environment. We give our perspective on the current status of the topic: methods of colloidal chemistry, coprecipitation, reverse-micelle technique, sol–gel, spray pyrolysis, microwave-assist…
Enhancement of calcium copper titanium oxide photoelectrochemical performance using boron nitride nanosheets
2020
International audience; Photoelectrochemical water splitting under visible light has attracted attention for renewable hydrogen production. Despite prevalent investigations, many challenges still hindered an efficient energy conversion, such as enhancing the reaction efficiency in visible light. Thus controlling the photoelectrode materials is an essential step in designing new materials for water splitting. CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) has received great attention as photocatalyst under solar light due to its combined band gap as result of the presence in its structure of TiO2 active in UV light and CuO active under visible light. In this work, a cubic CCTO with different amount of exfoliated hexago…
C-, N-, S-, and Fe-Doped TiO2 and SrTiO3 Nanotubes for Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Water Splitting: Prediction from First Principles
2015
The ground state electronic structure and the formation energies of both TiO2 and SrTiO3 nanotubes (NTs) containing CO, NO, SO, and FeTi substitutional impurities are studied using first-principles calculations. We observe that N and S dopants in TiO2 NTs lead to an enhancement of their visible-light-driven photocatalytic response, thereby increasing their ability to split H2O molecules. The differences between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied impurity levels inside the band gap (HOIL and LUIL, respectively) are reduced in these defective nanotubes down to 2.4 and 2.5 eV for N and S doping, respectively. The band gap of an NO+SO codoped titania nanotube is narrowed down to 2.2 eV …