The demand for clean and renewable energy is increasing because of rapid depletion of fossil fuels and stringent environmental and political constraints. In this context, hydrogen is emerging as a natural choice because it is a clean energy carrier and represents the final objective of a decarbonized society. The water splitting reaction can be intensified by using suitable photocatalytic devices that allow an efficient use of the photons through an effective contact between the photocatalyst and the reactants and an optimal exposure to the light.
On the other hand, the photocatalyzed oxidation of biomass-derived products acting as sacrificial agents can smooth the path for producing hydrogen from renewable sources. Here we will discuss about the use of photonic crystals to obtain hydrogen from gaseous mixtures of ethanol-water under dynamic conditions, both under artificial UV-light LED source and direct solar radiation.
Bio:
Jordi Llorca received his PhD in Chemistry from the Universitat de Barcelona, where he was later appointed Associate Professor. In 2005 he joined Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and in 2014 he became Full Professor. He received the Distinction of Generalitat de Catalunya to the Promotion of the University Research in 2003 and the ICREA Academia Award in 2009 and in 2014. He has published over 300 scholarly articles and authored 12 patents and has h-index of 51. He is Academician of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Section of Science and Technology.
