Photocatalytic Plates for Production of Hydrogen and Value-Added Products via Glycerol Photoreforming

Photocatalytic hydrogen production has emerged as a promising strategy due to the potential of using renewable sources such as sunlight and biomass. The scalability of this process depended on the optimization of the reaction system design, as well as on the reduction of costs and time required for the catalyst separation, purification, and reuse steps. This study presents the application of photocatalytic plates with immobilized TiO₂ doped with low amounts of platinum (Pt) at the photoreforming of glycerol under visible-light irradiation. Catalysts were synthesized via photodeposition and characterized using SEM, XRD, BET, and impedance spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the photodeposition method promoted the formation of nanometric Pt particles on the TiO₂ surface, significantly increasing H₂ production and charge separation efficiency compared to results obtained using pure TiO₂. This improvement was evidenced by the increase in the H₂ evolution rate and the formation of high-value products, such as glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone. The reaction temperature proved to be an essential factor for optimizing the reaction rate. The photocatalytic activity, however, already reached satisfactory performance at 40 °C, eliminating the need for additional heating to increase hydrogen production. The main byproducts identified reinforce the versatility of photocatalysis as an efficient route for sustainable glycerol valorization.