Solar-driven low-temperature reforming of methanol into hydrogen via synergetic photo- and thermocatalysis

Abstract Low temperature and efficient hydrogen production from methanol is crucial in development of energy technology. Here a synergetic approach of photo- and thermocatalysis of coupling photocatalysis and thermocatalysis within the full spectrum is proposed to achieve efficient conversion of methanol to hydrogen. The composite copper/zinc/zirconium (Cu/Zn/Zr) oxide nanocatalysts are prepared and firstly utilized in synergetic photo- and thermocatalysis. Combine with the effect of the catalyst component and mass ratio on optical absorption, Cu/Zn/Zr (70:23:7) oxide nanocatalysts with full-spectrum absorption have best performance of synergetic photo- and thermocatalysis. Meanwhile, the synergetic photo- and thermocatalysis not only has better performance than either single photocatalysis or thermocatalysis, but also takes place at a relatively low temperature (130 °C). Under irradiation of 16 suns, the solar-chemical conversion efficiency reaches 45.6%. Photo-generated carriers further promote thermocatalysis, which explains the reaction mechanism of the synergetic photo- and thermocatalysis. The catalytic route in full spectrum can provide some references for future energy storage and utilization.