Enhancing Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Alcohols for Clean Hydrogen Production from Exhaustive TiO₂-Decorated Photocatalysts under LED Irradiation

While global hydrogen demand continues to increase, green and efficient production of on-demand hydrogen is still needed to compete with current systems based on the use of fossil fuels. Among recent technologies, photocatalytic hydrogen production is a promising alternative, whose scale-up remains limited owing to various reaction parameters that impact the efficiency of the process. In this context, alcohols as liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) constitute a relevant strategy for the production of clean H2 through their oxidative dehydrogenation. The aim of these investigations was to highlight conditions for the preparation of various TiO2-decorated photocatalysts as efficient materials for hydrogen production from photoreforming of alcohols in water. The impact of simple engineering parameters was also compared to enhance the catalytic activity, thus allowing an unprecedented hydrogen production rate of 135,600 μmol·g-1·h-1, which could be relevant in response to the increasing demand of clean energy. In the optimized conditions, high apparent quantum yield was also achieved.