A Cu2O-assisted photocatalytic microbial hydrogen production system with low energy consumption and high efficiency

Electrocatalytically assisted hydrogen generation bio-electrochemical system (BES) can realize low energy consumption and sustainable hydrogen generation by using bioelectronics. However, such systems are usually two-chamber reactors which separated by ion-exchange membrane. The transport of H+ ions across the membrane should be driven by a certain voltage and is dependent on external power sources. In order to further improve the rate of hydrogen generation and the total energy efficiency, this study modified the biocathode with photoelectric catalyst Cu2O and developed a sandwich-typed photoelectrical biocathode for hydrogen generation. The results showed that the integrated cathode could achieve a significant increase in current density and hydrogen yield under illumination, while reducing the power consumption.