Producing energy from multiple resources that can be replenished at higher rate than they are consumed.
Renewable energy, solar & photoelectrochemical
Efficient conversion of waste to energy
Waste utilization for energy conservation
To promote the use of waste-originated resources in biodiesel production, this study proposes the utilization of leather tanning waste (LTW) and crab-shell (CS) waste as the respective lipid source and catalyst material. The obtained CS-based calcium oxide (CaO) has comparable textural properties with those of existing waste-based catalysts and shows high catalytic activity for the conversion of LTW to biodiesel.
Check out the article at Biomass and Bioenergy 151 (2021) 106155
Efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation
Advanced technology
Nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) is regarded as one of the promising cocatalysts to enhance the catalytic performance of photoanodes but suffers from serious interfacial charge-carrier recombination at the photoanode||NiOOH interface. In this work, surface-engineered BiVO4 photoanodes are fabricated by sandwiching an oxygen vacancy (Ovac) interlayer between BiVO4 and NiOOH. The surface Ovac interlayer is introduced on BiVO4 by a chemical reduction treatment using a mild reducing agent, sodium hypophosphite. The induced Ovac can alleviate the interfacial charge-carrier recombination at the BiVO4||NiOOH junction, resulting in efficient charge separation and transfer efficiencies, while an outer NiOOH layer is coated to prevent the Ovac layer from degradation. In addition to the superior photoactivity, the 5-h amperometric measurements illustrate improved stability of the surface-engineered NiOOH-P-BiVO4 photoanode. Our work showcases the feasibility of combining cocatalysts with Ovac, for improved photoactivity and stability of photoelectrodes.
Check out the article at Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 608 (2022) 1116-1125