Photocatalytic and photosensitized water splitting: A plea for well-defined and commonly accepted protocol

Publication date: Available online 8 May 2018Source: Comptes Rendus ChimieAuthor(s): Arindam Indra, Prashanth W. Menezes, Matthias DriessAbstractThe amount of “free” energy provided by the sun in 1 h is more than what currently mankind uses from fossil fuels and other renewable energy sources. Water covers 71% of the earth surface, making it easily available and one of the cheapest natural resources. Therefore, the concept of sunlight-driven water splitting (oxygen and hydrogen evolution) by converting the solar energy into chemical energy could be a cheap substitute for fuels and thus is of paramount interest. Moreover, it is very important to store this chemical energy because the energy demand cannot directly be correlated to the availability of sunlight. Although numerous photocatalytic and photosensitized water-splitting materials have been reported for the heterogeneous photocatalysis, the representation of activity in a well-defined and commonly accepted way is still a great concern. Here, we describe how one could overcome the complications involved in representing real activity by testing standard catalysts with self-designed instruments.

Source: Comptes Rendus Chimie - July 5, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research