Photodecomposition of water\ethanol mixtures for the production of hydrogen using as catalysts TiO2 fibers

Abstract

The consumption of hydrogen as an automotive fuel has been growing since the 1980s. It can be used both as a gasoline blend and as a pure fuel. All human activities involve the use of energy. Some examples are: fuels for transport and heating, electricity for various purposes, among others. It is a basic element for the production and commercialization of any goods or services and represents one of the main expenses of families. Thus, projected future trajectories for energy prices are of obvious interest to consumers and producers. The use of hydrogen generation and storage technology is an energy generation option to replace current fossil fuels, as it offers the opportunity to obtain energy with reduced environmental impacts and which does not pollute the environment. In this work, TiO2 fibers were obtained by the electrospinning technique and used as catalysts in the photodecomposition of water-ethanol mixtures for the production of hydrogen. The X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) was used to characterize the synthesized catalysts, the BET method provided measurements of the specific area, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyzed the morphology of the samples. The results indicate that the fibers that contain the anatase phase in greater proportion have a high surface area and were the most effective in the production of hydrogen.