Photochemical Water Splitting : Materials and Applications

This book provides a comprehensive overview of photocatalytic water splitting theory and technology with a focus on advances in photocatalyst materials. It examines how to improve the performance of photocatalysts in terms of both catalytic activity and stability as well as how to reduce material costs. It also discusses material synthesis, focusing on control of the particle size, morphology, orientation, and aspect ratio as related to the cost-effectiveness of large-scale material and device manufacturing for water splitting.

Cleavage of water to its constituents (i.e., hydrogen and oxygen) for production of hydrogen energy at an industrial scale is one of the "holy grails" of materials science. That can be done by utilizing the renewable energy resource i.e. sunlight and photocatalytic material. The sunlight and water are abundant and free of cost available at this planet. But the development of a stable, efficient and cost-effective photocatalytic material to split water is still a great challenge. To develop the effective materials for photocatalytic water splitting, various type of materials with different sizes and structures from nano to giant have been explored that includes metal oxides, metal chalcogenides, carbides, nitrides, phosphides, and so on. Fundamental concepts and state of art materials for the water splitting are also discussed to understand the phenomenon/mechanism behind the photoelectrochemical water splitting. This book gives a comprehensive overview and description of the manufacturing of photocatalytic materials and devices for water splitting by controlling the chemical composition, particle size, morphology, orientation and aspect ratios of the materials. The real technological breakthroughs in the development of the photoactive materials with considerable efficiency, are well conversed to bring out the practical aspects of the technique and its commercialization.