Harvesting Hydrogen Gas from Air Pollutants with an Unbiased Gas Phase Photoelectrochemical Cell.
The concept of an all-gas-phase photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell producing hydrogen gas from volatile organic contaminated gas and light is presented. Without applying any external bias, organic contaminants are degraded and hydrogen gas is produced in separate electrode compartments. The system works most efficiently with organic pollutants in inert carrier gas. In the presence of oxygen, the cell performs less efficiently but still significant photocurrents are generated, showing the cell can be run on organic contaminated air. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate new application opportunities of PEC technology and to encourage further advancement toward PEC remediation of air pollution with the attractive feature of simultaneous energy recovery and pollution abatement.
Department of Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium.|Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium.
Sammy W
0000-0003-2372-9630
SW
Verbruggen
Department of Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium.
Myrthe
M
Van Hal
Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium.
Tom
T
Bosserez
Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium.
Jan
J
Rongé
Department of Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium.
Birger
B
Hauchecorne
Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium.
Johan A
JA
Martens
Department of Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium.
Silvia
S
Lenaerts
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004563:Electrochemistry; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy; D014835:Volatilization; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
D000393:Air Pollutants; D014867:Water; D006859:Hydrogen
gas phase; hydrogen; methanol; photoelectrochemical cell; titanium dioxide