Hydrogen production and ZnO/Zn hybrid nanostructure preparation through a water-splitting reaction

Firstly, the Zn-nanoparticles were prepared by vibration mill, then water vapour was carried in by Ar while they had been preheated. Once the water vapour contacted with Zn-nanoparticles, water-splitting reaction started, hydrogen yielded and solid zinc oxide nanostructures were gained. The hydrogen yield rate was tested, and the solid product by XRD, EDS and TEM. It´s proved that the Zn-nanoparticles with an average size of 45nm after 11 hours milling acted well when they contacted with water vapor carried by 5L/min Ar flow under temperature of 275°C, and the hydrogen yield rate could reach to a high level of 184.4ml/min in 20 minutes. The result of XRD and EDS shows there are both ZnO and Zn existing in solid product, and the TEM showed it had a great dispersivity featuring nano-rods hybrided with nano-flakes. This ZnO/Zn hybrid nanostructure has been proved to have great photocatalytic performance in the decomposition of dye wastewater.