Enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution through NiO/Bi2O3 nanocomposites

In the future, hydrogen has the ability to meet the requirements for a clean non-fossil fuel. The Photocatalytic synthesis of H2 by water splitting has been demonstrated, and considerable effort has been documented. The current study aims to improve the production of H2 during water splitting by using manufactured nanoparticles based on metal oxide semiconductors in a photochemical reaction with visible light and methanol as a hole-scavenger. The synthesized nanoparticles were prepared using coprecipitation and ultrasound methods and their morphological structures were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive analysis (Edax), diffused reflectance spectra (DRS), BET surface area, photoluminescence analysis (PL) and Gas chromatography (GC). In general, increased semiconductor activity is most likely owing to effective charge separation of photogenerated electrons and holes in the semiconductors. As a result, using different semiconductors in combination can enable improved hydrogen generation. in this study, two different semiconductors with varying concentrations were injected, either singly or in combination. They then created a large amount of H2 54 % and 77 % for catalyst A and catalyst B respectively, which was identified and analyzed using gas chromatography.