Photoelectrochemistry, Photocatalysis and Photoreactors Fundamentals and Developments (Nato Science Series C:, 146)

This book collects the lectures delivered by the Authors during the NATO ASI "Fundamentals and Developments of Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Processes", held in Erice (Trapani, Italy) from May 20th to June 2nd 1984. The ASI was devoted to the general field of photochemical conversion and storage of solar energy. It had the aim of defining the "state of art" and of outlining perspectives, lines of development and practic al utilization of this form of energy. The world energy crisis has stimulated scientists to investigate new routes for finding and testing methods and processes for obtaining renewable and cheap sources of energy. Within this framework, the possibility of solar energy utilization on a large scale must overcome the stage of discovering efficient processes for the photochemical conversion and for the storage. The most promising way for achieving this goal seems the photosplitting of water and related reactions. The methods for obtaining the water photosplitting are essentially based on photoelectrochemical cells and on photocatalytic systems (gas-solid and gas-liquid-solid). Extensive research work is currently done all over the world both in universities and in industrial laboratories in these areas. The ASI has given to the audience a general view of the fundamental aspects and as much as possible a detailed insight of the various methods and processes. A section has been also devoted to the photoreactors, a field in which the interest is ix x FOREWORD steadily increasing and whose development is essential for the practical exploitation of the various methods. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Electronic States in Ionic Solids....Pages 3-37 Semiconductor Electrodes and Their Interaction with Light....Pages 39-106 Kinetic Aspects in Photoelectrochemical Solar Cells....Pages 107-153 Choosing a Photoelectrode....Pages 155-174 Materials Engineering: General Considerations....Pages 175-192 Concluding Remarks on: Photoelectrochemistry....Pages 193-194 Front Matter....Pages 195-195 Fundamental Aspects of Photochemistry and Photophysics of Transition Metal Complexes....Pages 197-216 Photostorage of Solar Energy in Colloidal Semiconductor Systems....Pages 217-238 Redox Catalysis in Photochemical and Photoelectrochemical Solar Energy Conversion Systems....Pages 239-269 Effect of Organized Assemblies on Electron Transfer Reactions and Charge Separation Processes....Pages 271-291 Photoassisted Cleavage of Hydrogen Sulfide with Semiconductor Particles. The Thiosulfate Cycle....Pages 293-304 Photocatalytic Reactions of Organic Compounds. Hydrogen Generation from Organics and Degradation of Wastes....Pages 305-319 Prospectives of Exploitation of Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Processes for Solar Energy Conversion....Pages 321-349 Applications of Picosecond Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy. The Mapping of Primary Events in Photochemistry and Photocatalysis....Pages 351-372 Concluding Remarks on: Homogeneous Photocatalysis....Pages 373-375 Front Matter....Pages 377-377 Fundamental Aspects of the Adsorption and the Desorption of Gases at Solid Surfaces under Illumination....Pages 379-388 Adsorption of Energy in Photocatalytic Reactors....Pages 389-424 Photocatalytic Reactions....Pages 425-455 Heterogeneous Photocatalysis....Pages 457-489 Some Experimental Investigations of Photosorption Phenomena at the Gas-Solid Interface....Pages 491-502 Front Matter....Pages 377-377 Photocataltytic Reactions: An Overview on the Water Splitting and on the Dinitrogen Reduction....Pages 503-519 Concluding Remarks on: Heterogeneous Photocatalysis at the Gas/Solid Interface....Pages 521-523 Front Matter....Pages 525-525 Introduction to the Modelling and Design of Photoreactors....Pages 527-547 Radiative Transfer in Photochemical Processes....Pages 549-559 Studies of Photoreactions in Homogeneous Photoreactors....Pages 561-573 Studies of Photoreactions in Heterogeneous Photoreactors....Pages 575-585 Absorption of Light Energy in Photoreactors....Pages 587-604 Current Problems in the Modelling of Photochemical Reactors....Pages 605-617 Guidelines for Photoreactor Research....Pages 619-623 Back Matter....Pages 625-631