Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of Russian ...

OP-V-19composition of the gas mixtures in the two compartments of the cell, as determined by gaschromatographic analysis. The rutile phase, predominant when TiO 2 was deposited at 600°C,appears to be more active in the photocatalytic production of hydrogen with respect to theanatase phase, present in higher amount when the TiO 2 layer was deposited at 450°C. This iscompatible with the better capability of the rutile phase to absorb light of longer wavelength.Indeed, the 600°C photoelectrode showed active also under irradiation at wavelengths above400 nm. In general, the amount of oxygen evolved in side A of the cell was lower thanexpected on the basis of H 2 evolution, probably because photocatalytically produced O 2 wasin part retained in the NaOH solution.Our results show that hydrogen production from photocatalytic water splitting should beregarded as a practically viable, extremely promising way for clean, low cost andenvironmentally friendly conversion of solar energy into chemical energy, which could infuture replace fossil fuels as a major energy source.References1. E. Selli, G.L. Chiarello, E. Quartarone, P. Mustarelli, I. Rossetti, L. Forni, Chem. Commun., 2007, 5022.205