Abstract:

Solar photocatalysis is a promising approach to achieve production of renewable hydrogen fuel for future sustainable energy. Photocatalysis (PC) can also be integrated with fuel cell (FC) to form photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) that effectively utilizes solar energy for simultaneous wastewater treatment and recovery of energy chemically stored in wastewater. PFC using photoanode and photocathode can utilize solar energy effectively for hydrogen production, carbon reduction, wastewater treatment and recovery of the energy chemically stored in wastewater. Solar PC can decompose organic compounds while the FC component provides an electrical potential bias to drive the transport of the photogenerated electrons. In this talk, the speaker will first discuss the properties and fundamental mechanisms of solar photocatalysis followed by the development of effective visible-light activated nano-photocatalysts. Then, different reactor configurations, designs and control strategies for various applications will be presented. The talk will also cover upcoming R&D challenges for enhancing the solar photocatalysis technologies.