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The solar H-2 generation directly from natural seawater is a sustainable way of green energy. However, it is limited by a low H-2 generation rate even compared to fresh water. In this report, TiO2 is chosen as a model photocatalyst to disclose the critical factor to deteriorate the H-2 generation rate from seawater. The simulated seawater (SSW), which is composed of eight ions (Na+, K+,Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, Br-, SO42-, and CO32-), is investigated the effect of each ion on the H-2 production. The results indicate that all ions have a negative effect at the same concentration as in the seawater except Br-. The CO32- has the most serious deterioration, and the H-2 production rate lowers near 40% even at [CO32-] of 1.5 mmol- L-1. The H-2 production rate can be recovered to 85% if the CO32- is excluded from the SSW. To understand the reason, the zeta potential of the TiO2 treated with different ions aqueous solution reveals that the zeta potential decreases when it is treated with CO32- and SO42- due to they can adsorb on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectroscopy (TGA-MS) further confirm that the adsorbed ion is mainly from CO32-. Since the pH of seawater is about 8.9 between pK(a1) (6.37) and pK(a2) (10.3) of H2CO3, the CO32- should exist in the form of HCO3- in the seawater. We proposed a simple method to remove the adsorbed HCO3- from the TiO2 surface by adjusting the pH below the pK al . The results indicate that if a trace amount of HCI (adjusting pH similar to 6.0) is added to the SSW, the H-2 production rate can be recovered to 85% of that in pure water.
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NANO RESEARCH
ISSN: 1998-0124
Year: 2022
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Page: 4620-4624
9 . 9
JCR@2022
9 . 9 0 0
JCR@2022
ESI Discipline: PHYSICS;
ESI HC Threshold:41
JCR Journal Grade:1
CAS Journal Grade:1
Cited Count:
WoS CC Cited Count: 10
SCOPUS Cited Count: 12
ESI Highly Cited Papers on the List: 0 Unfold All
WanFang Cited Count:
Chinese Cited Count:
30 Days PV: 8
Affiliated Colleges: