posted on 2023-11-20, 13:20authored byFeng Liu, Yiwei Fu, Kejian Lu, Shujian Wang, Biao Wang, Jie Huang, Xueli Yan, Yiqun Zheng, Liejin Guo, Maochang Liu
H2 production by lignocellulose photoreforming
is deemed
to be a promising approach for the conversion of solar energy to fuels
yet in limited efficiency to date. Herein, we bring a record-breaking
H2 evolution activity with a large amount of observable
H2 bubbles generated in the basic α-cellulose photoreforming
reaction using a nanotwinned CdZnS photocatalyst (CZS). Subsequently,
an outdoor compound parabolic concentrator-based reactor is developed
to scale up this system to 7.2 m2 and a H2 production
rate of 615 mL h–1 under direct solar irradiation
was obtained. We demonstrated the vital function of the basic solution
pH in accelerating the oxidation semireaction kinetics. The pH dependence
of the hydroxylated surface over CZS nanotwins features efficient
hole transfer and rapid hydroxyl radical generation by inducing favorable
reaction kinetics/thermodynamics in alkaline solution, enabling highly
effective photoreforming activity. This work provides a state-of-art
example of efficient H2 production via lignocellulose photoreforming.