Photocatalytic production of hydrogen in single component and mixture systems of electron donors and monitoring adsorption of donors by in situ infrared spectroscopy

The photocatalytic production of hydrogen using aqueous Pt/TiO2 suspension has been investigated in single component and mixture systems of electron donors (pollutants). The reaction systems consisted of oxalic acid, formic acid and formaldehyde, respectively. The adsorption of these donors on TiO2 was also monitored by in situ attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATRIR). In the single component systems, the efficiency order of electron donors is as follows: H2C2O4 > HCOOH > HCHO. The order is consistent with the order of adsorption affinity of the electron donors on TiO2 determined by ATRIR, which suggests a link between the strength of surface interaction and the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. In the binary mixture systems, competitive inhibition kinetics is observed. When a donor adsorbed strongly on TiO2 in a state of saturated adsorption in a binary system, the overall rate of the hydrogen evolution is consistent with that of decomposition of the donor, and the system can be treated as a single component system.