Using a hematite (*1) photocatalyst (*2), a joint research team has succeeded in producing both hydrogen gas and hydrogen peroxide (*3) at the same time from sunlight and water. The team included the following members from Kobe University: Associate Professor TACHIKAWA Takashi, Professor TENNO Seiichiro and Associate Professor TSUCHIMOCHI Takashi et al.

In the quest to make a carbon neutral society a reality, CO2-free hydrogen production using sunlight energy has gained attention. If chemical products with applications in the health and food industries could be produced at the same time as hydrogen through photocatalyst-mediated solar water-splitting, it would be possible to develop a solar water-splitting utilization system with even greater added value.

Hematite mesocrystals (*4) can absorb a wide range of visible light. In this study, Associate Professor Tachikawa et al. found that by preparing electrodes with mesocrystals doped (*5) with two different metal ions, it was possible to safely, cheaply and stably produce hydrogen peroxide as well as hydrogen. Hydrogen peroxide is used for many purposes including disinfecting, bleaching and soil improvement.

The research group's next aim is to implement this technology. While continuing to improve the high efficiency of the developed photocatalyst electrode, they will try to assemble the cells into a compact module as a step towards societal implementation. They also plan to develop this mesocrystal technology with various materials and reaction systems.

This was a joint research project with Nagoya University's Institute of Materials and Systems for Sustainability (Professor MUTO Shunsuke) and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (Chief Researcher OHARA Koji and Researcher INA Toshiaki).

The results were given advanced online publication in Nature Communications (Nature Publishing Group) on March 23, 2022.

Research Report:Binary dopant segregation enables hematite-based heterostructures for highly efficient solar H2O2 synthesis

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