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Scalable Photocatalyst Panels for Photoreforming of Plastic, Biomass and Mixed Waste in Flow.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

Solar-driven reforming uses sunlight and a photocatalyst to generate H2 fuel from waste at ambient temperature and pressure. However, it faces practical scaling challenges such as photocatalyst dispersion and recyclability, competing light absorption by the waste solution, slow reaction rates and low conversion yields. Here, the immobilisation of a noble-metal-free carbon nitride/nickel phosphide (CNx |Ni2 P) photocatalyst on textured glass is shown to overcome several of these limitations. The 1 cm2 CNx |Ni2 P panels photoreform plastic, biomass, food and mixed waste into H2 and organic molecules with rates comparable to those of photocatalyst slurries. Furthermore, the panels enable facile photocatalyst recycling and novel photoreactor configurations that prevent parasitic light absorption, thereby promoting H2 production from turbid waste solutions. Scalability is further verified by preparing 25 cm2 CNx |Ni2 P panels for use in a custom-designed flow reactor to generate up to 21 μmolH 2  m-2  h-1 under "real-world" (seawater, low sunlight) conditions. The application of inexpensive and readily scalable CNx |Ni2 P panels to photoreforming of a variety of real waste streams provides a crucial step towards the practical deployment of this technology.

Description

Keywords

immobilisation, photocatalysis, photoreforming, scaling, waste

Journal Title

ChemSusChem

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1864-5631
1864-564X

Volume Title

14

Publisher

Wiley

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015978/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S025308/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S022953/1)
EPSRC (1819525)
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