Noble Metals Deposited LaMnO₃ Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic H₂ Production

Due to the growing demand for hydrogen, the photocatalytic hydrogen production from alcohols present an intriguing prospect as a potential source of low-cost renewable energy. The noble metals (Ag, Au, Pd and Pt) deposited LaMnO₃ nanocomposites were synthesized by a non-conventional green bio-reduction method using aqueous lemon peel extract, which acts as both reducing and capping agent. The successful deposition of the noble metals on the surface of LaMnO₃ was verified by using powder XRD, FTIR, TEM, N₂-physisorption, DR UV-vis spectroscopy, and XPS techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized nanocomposites was tested for photocatalytic H₂ production under visible light irradiation. Different photocatalytic reaction parameters such as reaction time, pH, catalyst mass and reaction temperature were investigated to optimize the reaction conditions for synthesized nanocomposites. Among the synthesized noble metal deposited LaMnO₃ nanocomposites, the Pt-LaMnO₃ nanocomposite offered superior activity for H₂ production. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the Pt-LaMnO₃ was found as a result from low bandgap energy, high photoelectrons generation and enhanced charge separation due to deposition of Pt nanoparticles. The effective noble metal deposition delivers a new route for the development of plasmonic noble metal-LaMnO₃ nanocomposites for photocatalytic reforming of aqueous methanol to hydrogen.