Mesoporous WO3 photoanodes for hydrogen production by water splitting and PhotoFuelCell operation

•Easy synthesis of WO3 photoanodes.•Use of WO3 photoanodes for photoelectrochemical production of hydrogen.•Water splitting and ethanol oxidation for hydrogen production.•PhotoFuelCell application of WO3 photoanodes.

WO3 photoanodes have been constructed by a simple soft chemistry procedure that produced efficient mesoporous nanocrystalline films. These photoanodes absorbed visible light and could be efficiently employed for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production under electric bias. The current increased and the rate of hydrogen production more than tripled in the presence of a small quantity of ethanol showing that such photoanodes may be successfully used in alternative photoelectrochemical installations for solar fuel production by consumption of organic wastes.

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