Preparation of Pt deposited nanotubular TiO2 as cathodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical hydrogen production using seawater electrolytes

The purpose of this study was to develop effective cathodes to increase the production of hydrogen and use the seawater, an abundant resource in the earth as the electrolyte in photoelectrochemical systems. In order to fabricate the Pt/TiO2 cathodes, various contents of the Pt precursor (0–0.4 wt%) deposited by the electrodeposition method were used. On the basis of the hydrogen evolution rate, 0.2 wt% Pt/TiO2 was observed to exhibit the best performance among the various Pt/TiO2 cathodes with the natural seawater and two concentrated seawater electrolytes obtained from single (nanofiltration) and combined membrane (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) processes.The surface characterizations exhibited that crystal structures and morphological properties of Pt and TiO2 found the results of XRD pattern and SEM/TEM images, respectively.

On the basis of photoelectrochemical hydrogen production, 0.2 wt% Pt/TiO2 was observed to exhibit the best performance among the various Pt/TIO2 cathodes with natural seawater. In comparison of hydrogen evolution rate with various seawater electrolytes, 0.2 wt% Pt/TiO2 was found to show the better performance as cathode with the concentrated seawater electrolytes obtained from membrane.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► Pt deposited TiO2 electrodes are used as cathode in PEC H2 production.
► Natural and concentrated seawater by membranes are used as electrolytes in PEC.
► Pt/TiO2 shows a good performance as cathode with seawater electrolytes.
► H2 evolution rate increases with more concentrated seawater electrolyte.
► Highly saline seawater is useful resource for H2 production.