Reactors, Fundamentals, and Engineering Aspects for Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Systems

As global energy consumption is projected to escalate and is anticipated to reach 30 TW by 2050, the next giant step for renewable energy revolution is becoming more critical to solve the onslaught of energy crisis. Solar energy is worth noting as a potential candidate to become one of the significant future energy resources attributed to the highly abundant and inexhaustible source of energy from the Sun. Particularly, solar energy can be converted into three different forms: (i) electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV), (ii) heat from concentrating solar thermal power (CSP), and (iii) chemical solar fuels (hydrogen, H2, and hydrocarbons). Over the past few years, incessant research endeavors have been devoted in solar-to-chemical conversion via artificial photosynthesis, i.e. photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical (PEC) processes. Previous chapters comprehensively described these systems, with particular focuses on the fundamentals, reactions, and photocatalyst materials. While the photocatalysis and PEC reactions are potentially useful in solar fuel harvesting, their efficiencies are still far from being feasible for practical application. However, large-scale production of solar fuel might be accomplished in the near future if research efforts on solar-to-chemical conversion are persisted. This chapter provides an insight on the key factors for practical approach of photocatalysis and PEC in solar fuel production, particularly on (i) fundamental rationales and mechanisms, (ii) the design and setup of photo-reactors, and (iii) engineering aspects of photocatalytic and PEC systems with potential scalability.