Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Lab Chip. 2013 Feb 7;13(3):409-14. doi: 10.1039/c2lc41129f.
While photocatalytic water-splitting is a promising alternative energy source, low photocatalytic efficiencies in the visible spectrum hinders its widespread deployment and commercialization. Although screening combinations of new materials and characterizing their reaction kinetics offers possible improvements to efficiency, current experiments are challenged by expensive bulky setups and slow recovery of particles downstream. Optofluidics is a good platform for screening Z-scheme catalysts cheaply and rapidly. By alleviating the problems of mass transport it can also potentially increase reaction rates and efficiencies. Here, we demonstrate a novel optofluidic device based on applying catalyst sol-gels on planar channels while measuring the reaction output by monitoring the depletion of the redox mediators. We use our setup to study the kinetics of the TiO(2)-Pt water-splitting reaction mediated by I(-)/IO(3)(-) redox pairs under different flow rates. In particular, for TiO(2)-Pt, we show ~2-fold improvements in reaction rates and efficiencies.
虽然光催化水分解是一种很有前途的替代能源，但可见光下的低光催化效率阻碍了它的广泛部署和商业化。虽然筛选新材料的组合并对其反应动力学进行表征可以提高效率，但目前的实验受到昂贵庞大的设备和下游颗粒缓慢回收的限制。光流控是一个廉价快速筛选 Z 型催化剂的良好平台。通过缓解质量传输问题，它还可以潜在地提高反应速率和效率。在这里，我们展示了一种基于在平面通道上施加催化剂溶胶-凝胶的新型光流控装置，同时通过监测氧化还原介质的消耗来测量反应输出。我们使用我们的装置来研究在不同流速下由 I(-)/IO(3)(-)氧化还原对介导的 TiO(2)-Pt 水分解反应的动力学。特别是，对于 TiO(2)-Pt，我们显示反应速率和效率提高了约 2 倍。
