Hydrogen Production by Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Abstract

The necessity for achieving a sustainable society depending on clean energy systems has led to the development of technology as well as research in renewable energy. One target is the storing of natural energy, such as solar energy, for instance, as transportable fuels. Hydrogen has a huge potential for becoming one of such fuels as long as it can be produced from renewable or vast sources at low costs with the lowest harmful emissions. Therefore, the grand challenge relies on the design of a photocatalytic system that can effectively utilize sunlight as the energy source and water as a substrate to generate hydrogen by the splitting reaction, which leads also to the concomitant generation of oxygen.