A Luz Solar como Fonte de Energia para a Geração de Combustível Limpo e Renovável: Um Olhar sobre a Quebra Fotoeletrocatalítica da Água

Resumo

The pursue of clean and renewable energy sources to substitute those originated from fossil resources
has been one of the major challenges of the modern society. One of the most promising and sophisticated
approach to accomplish this target is the generation of hydrogen gas from the solar-light-driven split of
water catalyzed by inexpensive and stable photocatalysts. Hydrogen can be employed as fuel for vehicles
and other transportation means, and also as feedstock for valuable industrial processes. This review
article focuses on the exposition and the discussion of the principles that govern the photocatalytic water
splitting for the generation of hydrogen using semiconductors composed of earth-abundant elements as
photocatalysts. It also explains the operation basics of photoelectrocatalytic cells and exposes the most
stringent bottlenecks faced by scientists of the field, discussing some strategies to circumvent them.
Some examples of promising photoanodes and photocathodes employed in photoelectrocatalytic water
splitting are also given.