Photocatalytic H2 production from glycerol-water mixtures over Ni/γ-Al2O3 and TiO2 composite systems

Ni/gamma-Al2O3 prepared by impregnation, Ni/gamma-Al2O3/CNT prepared in-situ during glycerol steam reforming, Ni/gamma-Al2O3-TiO2 and Ni/gamma-Al2O3/CNT-TiO2 were prepared by solid-state dispersion methods. These catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDAX, UV-Vis DRS, TEM, Raman and FT-IR techniques and were evaluated as photocatalysts for the production of H-2 using glycerol:water mixtures under solar light irradiation. For the firsttime, higher rate of H-2 (3400 mu mol h(-1) g(cat)(-1)) evolution was observed under the optimized conditions using Ni/gamma-Al2O3/CNT-TiO2 as a photocatalyst. This enhancement may be seen as due to the favorable absorption of solar light and the structural parameters minimizing the recombination of electron-hole pairs that resulted in improved activity of the catalyst. The present study clearly demonstrates that Ni/gamma-Al2O3/CNT-TiO2 as most promising photocatalyst for H-2 production from glycerol water mixtures under solar light irradiation and through characterization, the structure activity could be established. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.