Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Driven by Solar Energy: Performance Under Central European Climatic Conditions

Photocatalytic hydrogen production represents a promising approach for sustainable fuel generation, particularly when driven by solar irradiation. In this study, a photocatalytic system composed of eosin Y, cobalt sulfate, triethanolamine, and graphene oxide was investigated for hydrogen evolution. The optical and structural properties of the system components were characterized using UV–Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Photocatalytic activity was evaluated under both artificial light sources (halogen lamp, xenon lamp, and LED 505 nm) and natural sunlight in order to assess system performance under realistic environmental conditions. The addition of graphene oxide significantly enhanced hydrogen production, resulting in an approximately 4-fold increase compared to the three-component system without graphene oxide. Solar-driven experiments conducted over one year demonstrated efficient hydrogen evolution under a wide range of weather and irradiance conditions. Importantly, based on combined experimental and meteorological data, it is shown that high photocatalytic performance is achievable for a substantial fraction of the year, with approximately 55% of days expected to provide at least 80% of the maximum hydrogen production efficiency under Central European climatic conditions. These findings highlight the strong potential of the investigated four-component system for efficient hydrogen generation using low amounts of catalytic material and without external electrical energy input. Overall, the system shows promising performance for solar-driven hydrogen production under real-world solar irradiation conditions.