Blocking backward reaction on hydrogen evolution cocatalyst in a photosystem II hybrid Z-scheme water splitting system

Photocatalytic Z-scheme water splitting is considered as a promising approach to produce solar hydrogen. However, the forward hydrogen production reaction is often impeded by backward reactions. In the present study, in a photosystem II-integrated hybrid Z-scheme water splitting system, the backward hydrogen oxidation reaction was significantly suppressed by loading a PtCrOx cocatalyst on a ZrO2/TaON photocatalyst. Due to the weak chemisorption and activation of molecular hydrogen on PtCrOx, where Pt is stabilized in the oxidized forms, POII and Pt-IV, hydrogen oxidation is inhibited. However, it is remarkably well-catalyzed by the metallic Pt cocatalyst, thereby rapidly consuming the produced hydrogen. This work describes an approach to inhibit the backward reaction in the photosystem II-integrated hybrid Z-scheme water splitting system using Fe(CN)(6)(3-)/Fe(CN)(6)(4-) redox couple as an electron shuttle. (C) 2019, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.