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Storing solar energy in the form of chemical bonds under heterogeneous photocatalysis is ideal for sustainable energy conversion. Although progress has been made in recent years in the design of highly active photocatalysts, inefficient solar energy, and mass transfer, the instability and reverse reaction of catalysts hinder their practical large-scale applications. To solve these problems, we designed a floating photocatalytic platform composed of porous elastomer-hydrogel nanocomposites. Nanocomposites at the air-water interface are characterized by efficient light transmission, easy water supply and instantaneous gas separation. Therefore, even without forced convection, Pt/TiO2 cryoaerogels can achieve a high hydrogen evolution rate of 163 mmol h-1 m-2. When fabricated on an area of 1 square meter and added with an economically viable single-atom Cu/TiO2 photocatalyst, the nanocomposites produce 79.2 ml of hydrogen per day under natural light. In addition, long-term stable hydrogen production in seawater and photoreforming of polyethylene terephthalate in seawater and high turbidity water show the potential of nanocomposites as a commercially viable photocatalytic system.
Graphic introduction
Schematic diagram of floatable photocatalytic nanocomposites, a, nanocomposites and their advantages in photocatalytic HER: efficient light transfer (i), easy gas separation (ii), enhanced surface tension (floatability) (iii), stable catalyst immobilization (iv), inhibition of deoxidation (v) and easy reactant supply (mass transfer) (vi). b, schematic diagram (row 1) and optical image (row 2), Pt/TiO2 low-temperature aerogel nanocomposites; The third row, Cu-SA/TiO2 NP nanocomposites). The photocatalyst is embedded in an HPU-PPG-NaCl gel (i). After drying and expansion, a photocatalytic layer (II) is formed. Add silica aerogel (iii) to form a photocatalytic layer with Janus structure (iii). By integrating the photocatalytic layer and the support layer (iv) with the help of EtOH to make a bilayer system.
Material design and characterization of nanocomposites. Optical image of nanocomposites floating on the surface of water. b, original Pt/TiO2 density (blue; Pt/TiO2 cryogenic aerogel (black; n = 3) and Cu-SA/TiO2 NPs (green; n = 3)。 c. Scanning electron microscopy image of an elastomer-hydrogel nanocomposite. d. Porosity of the support layer (white; N = 8) and the photocatalytic layer (black; n = 8)。 e, EDS cross-sectional view of nanocomposites (left) and cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (center). The Si-to-mass ratio (right) is calculated based on EDS data (n > 4000). f. Contact angle measurement at each position of the nanocomposite: upper surface of the photocatalytic layer (left), lower surface of the photocatalytic layer (middle) and lower surface of the support layer (right). g, support layer equilibrium density (white; N = 4), photocatalytic layer (gray and cyan; N = 4) and silica aerogel photocatalytic layer (black and green; n = 3)。 h, catalyst leaching rate of PAM composites (left; n = 8) and HPU-PPG composites (right; n = 7)。 i, Optical images of PAM composites (top) and HPU-PPG composites (bottom) swelling in water 14 days before (left) and after (right). Elastic modulus of j,k, HPU-PPG composites (n = 5, n = 4) (j) and PAM composites (n = 3, n = 5) (k) before and after 14 days of swelling in water
Research on hydrogen production from nanocomposites.
Practical application of nanocomposites a. Schematic diagram of the application of nanocomposites in the actual environment. b. Long-term time process of hydrogen production in seawater (such as day 0, day 7, day 14). c, the time course of hydrogen production by sinking Pt/TiO2 cryogenic aerogels (black squares) and floating nanocomposites (green circles) in orange (orange line) and blue (blue line) dye solutions simulating turbid seawater. d. Schematic diagram of plastic photoreforming process. Optical image of PET bottle (with drawing; Ruler, 5 cm), cut PET (left) and dissolve PET in 1 m KOH solution (right). f. Long-term time process of H2 yield during PET photoconversion (such as day 0, day 7, day 14).
Scale up of the nanocomposites
Dissertation information
Original link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-023-01385-4
Corresponding authors: Dae-Hyeong Kim & Taeghwan Hyeon, Seoul National University
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