Stoichiometry of the photocatalytic fuel production by the reformation of aqueous acetic acid

Abstract

In recent years, photocatalytic reaction systems gained much attention to address both energy and environmental issues. One of these photocatalytic reactions involve the conversion of aqueous organic pollutants resulting from industrial waste into value added fuels (i.e., H2, and hydrocarbons) by means of solar-light. However, less understanding about reaction mechanism limits the practical realization of such vital process. Therefore, fundamental research in this field is very important to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of these systems. This work is an assessment for the simultaneous molecular hydrogen production and organic pollutant degradation. Acetic acid (CH3COOH) has been used as a model organic pollutant and co-catalyst loaded TiO2 as the photocatalyst.