Scaling Up the Process of Photo-Electrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract

This chapter will address the main issues related to the scaling up of a WS process. Currently, only few examples of pilot-scale water splitting (WS) devices are available in literature: low efficiencies and high costs are the main aspects that limit the use of this technology at industrial level, since results obtained at lab-scale are difficult to reproduce in larger configurations. The main factors that influence the device efficiency, which include activity and stability of catalysts and photoabsorbing materials, synthesis procedures, operational conditions and device configuration, will be examined. By the end of this chapter, a case of a pilot-scale photoelectrochemical (PEC) device will be presented and a prospective development of this technology will be discussed.