PHOTOCATALITIC PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN EMPLOYING SOLUTIONS OF WATER / ETHANOL AND ERRORS PRODUCED BY THE EDTA / CITRATE METHOD
Hydrogen, EDTA-Citrate, experimental design, photocatalysis, photocatalytic reactor
Research into new sources of fuel that exit cycle of fossil fuel dependence, that will is economically profitable, an environmentally friendly and has a high capacity for regeneration has fostered studies around routes that enable the production of hydrogen on a large scale and securely, with high conversion rate and the lowest possible cost. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been a promising area in this sense, and a great challenge lies in the development of photocatalytic materials that present textural, physical and chemical properties adequate to the reaction for the production of this fuel.
In this context, the objective of this work is to develop photocatalytic materials, by studying the route of synthesis by the EDTA-Citrate complexation method in which the synthesis parameters (pH, citric acid-EDTA-Metal ratio and heating rate) of this methodology through an experimental planning as well as the development of the reaction system (Photocatalytic Reactor) where these materials will be applied in the reaction of hydrogen production from water/etanol. The materials will are characterized for: The thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric analysis (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRD) and Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (ERD), and Species Area Analysis by the nitrogen adsorption method (BET). The photocatalytic tests will take place in a reactor designed in this work with controlled agitation and temperature, varying in addition of these parameters, catalyst concentration, saccharide reagent concentration and reaction time. The reusability and regeneration capacity of the materials used should also be evaluated.