Hybrid photocatalytic water splitting for an expanded range of the solar spectrum with cadmium sulfide and zinc sulfide catalysts

Abstract

In this paper, an experimental study of photo-catalytic water splitting with cadmium sulfide and zinc sulfide photo-catalysts is performed in a dual-cell reactor to investigate the effects of radiation intensity and photo-catalyst concentration on hydrogen and oxygen production rates. Hybridization of the photo-catalytic process is examined with multi catalysts and electric potential bias to enhance the productivity of the reactor and sustain the reaction rate. The hydrogen production of 0.41 mmol h-1 with 0.75% (v/v) ZnS is improved by almost 2 times higher than past studies due to illumination of 0.2% (v/v) CdS under 1 sun in a hybrid reactor. The productivity of the reactor is significantly enhanced at light intensities more than 1000 W m-2. The cadmium sulfide catalyst is found to be an inefficient absorbent of light energy, but it shows higher energy and exergy efficiencies compared with ZnS photo-catalysts in a light-driven water splitting process. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.