Energy and fuel production through solar light harvesting is one of the viable options to decrease carbon emissions. However, a valuable alternative to fossil fuels requires the development of cost-competitive materials. Semiconductor metal oxides are among the most widely adopted materials for solar energy conversion into chemical energy (H2), produced via photocatalytic water splitting.
Here, we aim to develop low-cost and energy-efficient artificial photosynthesis units to produce H2 from water. The system consists of TiO2 decorated with single-site catalysts, i.e., single-type atoms or a combination of atoms as co-catalyst.
We focus on synthesizing, discovering, and analyzing the effectiveness of newly designed catalysts based on single, bi-, or multi-atom decorated semiconductors intended for photocatalytic H2 evolution.
The result of this research can significantly enhance the normalized photocatalytic activity of the atomically decorated semiconductors compared to a conventional nanoparticle-decorated substrate.