Photoreforming of Glucose over CuO/TiO<sub>2</sub>
Elnaz Bahadori,
Gianguido Ramis,
Danny Zanardo,
Federica Menegazzo,
Michela Signoretto,
Delia Gazzoli,
Daniela Pietrogiacomi,
Alessandro Di Michele,
Ilenia Rossetti
Affiliations
Elnaz Bahadori
Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Genoa and INSTM Unit of Genoa, via all’Opera Pia 15A, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Gianguido Ramis
Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Genoa and INSTM Unit of Genoa, via all’Opera Pia 15A, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Danny Zanardo
CATMAT Lab, Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia e Unità INSTM di Venezia, Campus Scientifico, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venice, Italy
Federica Menegazzo
CATMAT Lab, Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia e Unità INSTM di Venezia, Campus Scientifico, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venice, Italy
Michela Signoretto
CATMAT Lab, Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia e Unità INSTM di Venezia, Campus Scientifico, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venice, Italy
Delia Gazzoli
Chemistry Depatment, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Daniela Pietrogiacomi
Chemistry Depatment, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Di Michele
Physics and Geology Department, Università di Perugia, Via Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Ilenia Rossetti
Chemical Plants and Industrial Chemistry Group, Chemistry Department, Università degli Studi di Milano and INSTM Unit Milano-Università, via C. Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy
Hydrogen production has been investigated through the photoreforming of glucose, as model molecule representative for biomass hydrolysis. Different copper- or nickel-loaded titania photocatalysts have been compared. The samples were prepared starting from three titania samples, prepared by precipitation and characterized by pure Anatase with high surface area, or prepared through flame synthesis, i.e., flame pyrolysis and the commercial P25, leading to mixed Rutile and Anatase phases with lower surface area. The metal was added in different loading up to 1 wt % following three procedures that induced different dispersion and reducibility to the catalyst. The highest activity among the bare semiconductors was exhibited by the commercial P25 titania, while the addition of 1 wt % CuO through precipitation with complexes led to the best hydrogen productivity, i.e., 9.7 mol H2/h kgcat. Finally, a basic economic analysis considering only the costs of the catalyst and testing was performed, suggesting CuO promoted samples as promising and almost feasible for this application.