Microwave assisted synthesis of silver nanoparticles and its application in sustainable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

摘要

Large amounts of photocatalysts are needed for the generation of solar hydrogen (H-2) and eco-friendly synthetic alternatives are essential. Here, we use glycerol as solvent and reducing agent, and food grade corn starch as stabilizing agent for the preparation of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) by microwave irradiation. The Ag NPs were also synthesized using various proportions of glycerol/water mixtures. The Ag NPs were loaded onto commercial TiO2 NPs to study the photogeneration of H-2. Characterization was carried out by UV-vis, XRD, TEM, UV-Vis DRS, and RBS. Stable Ag NPs after 320 days of aging with diameters from 2.9 to similar to 44 nm were prepared under several experimental conditions. Finally, TiO2@AgNPs showed that the rate of evolved H-2 is stable, much higher than pure TiO2 NPs and proportional to the amount of Ag NPs loaded. The present study introduces a new sustainable and eco-friendly strategy for designing low-cost photocatalysts for H-2 generation. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.