Nano-diamond based photocatalysis for solar hydrogen production

Abstract

Sustainable hydrogen sources are one of the solutions for further energy security and potential fuels. Although hydrogen has potential applications in heating, transportation, mechanical power, and electricity generation, it suffers from the problems of storing and transporting in compressed and liquefied from because of its low density. The development of suitable catalyst with high catalytic activities for hydrogen evolution from hydrolysis process has triggered considerable research interest over the past decades. Nano-diamond has recently received tremendous attention due to its superior thermal conductivity, chemical inertness, and electrical insulating properties. Nano-diamond surfaces have a wide variety of oxygen having groups including hydroxyl and carboxylic groups. These functionalities aid the attachment of Nano-diamond with photocatalyst without any stabilization. For that merit, incorporation of Nano-diamond into photocatalytic system is expected to improve the catalytic activities and stability of photocatalyst through restraining the catalyst agglomeration.