Study of the photocatalytic activity of Pt-modified commercial TiO2 for hydrogen production in the presence of common organic sacrificial agents

• Pt-Kronos vlp7000 is a good commercial photocatalyst for hydrogen production.
• Slightly acidic or neutral pH values are more suitable for alcohol photoreforming.
• Optimum catalyst loading is around 1.5 g L−1.
• Reuse capacity testing favors the Pt-KR photocatalyst over the Pt-P25 reference one.
• Preliminary hydrogen production results using solar radiation are very promising.

A detailed study is undertaken of the photocatalytic activity in hydrogen production of the commercial photocatalyst Kronos vlp7000 (KR) surface-modified with photodeposited platinum particles (2.1 wt% Pt). The influence of different photocatalytic variables is studied: photocatalyst loading, suspension pH value and the nature and concentration of the sacrificial agent used. Optimum pH was found to be neutral or slightly acidic. The catalyst loading, which ranged between 0.5 and 2 g L−1, had little effect on hydrogen production. In general, the results for the tested sacrificial agents in terms of hydrogen production were as follows (in descending order):methanol > ethanol > ethylene glycol > glycerol. In studies of reuse the commercial photocatalyst Kronos shows better perform in its photoactivity than the commercial photocatalyst Aeroxide TiO2 P25. Finally, studies were also undertaken of photoactivity under solar radiation in which promising results were obtained (5.5–18 mL h−1).

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