Photoelectrocatalysis for Green Hydrogen: Materials & Reactor Design

The workshop aims to build a practical and research-oriented understanding of how photoelectrocatalytic materials, electrochemical processes, and reactor design can be integrated to develop efficient and scalable green hydrogen systems.

• Understand the fundamentals of photoelectrochemical water splitting and green hydrogen generation.
• Explore semiconductor materials, band engineering, heterojunctions, and catalyst modification strategies.
• Analyze PEC performance using LSV, IPCE, ABPE, EIS, Mott-Schottky, and related techniques.
• Understand charge transport, recombination, and reaction kinetics in photoelectrodes.
• Explore photoreactor design, light management, mass transport, and gas evolution challenges.
• Introduce computational material screening and data-driven analysis using Python.
• Evaluate scale-up potential using Techno-Economic Analysis and Levelized Cost of Hydrogen.

🗓️ Day 1: Fundamentals, Materials Design & Catalyst Screening

• Objective: Understand the fundamentals of photoelectrocatalysis and explore materials engineering strategies for efficient solar-driven water splitting.
• Fundamentals of photoelectrocatalysis and photoelectrochemical water splitting.
• Semiconductor photoelectrodes: light absorption, charge generation, separation, and recombination.
• HER and OER fundamentals with Solar-to-Hydrogen (STH) efficiency concepts.
• Band structure and bandgap engineering of BiVO₄, α-Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, and Cu₂O.
• Heterojunction engineering: Type-II, S-scheme, and Z-scheme architectures.
• Defect engineering, doping, co-catalysts, and surface passivation strategies.
• Computational and DFT-assisted screening of semiconductor materials.

🛠️ Hands-on Lab (Google Colab)

• Task: Build a Band Alignment Predictor to screen semiconductor materials and compare their band-edge positions with water redox potentials.
• Tools Covered: Python, mp-api, pymatgen, and Google Colab.

🗓️ Day 2: Photoelectrochemical Characterization & Reaction Kinetics

• Objective: Analyze photoelectrochemical performance, charge-transfer behavior, reaction kinetics, and stability using standard PEC characterization techniques.
• Photocurrent-density curves and key PEC performance parameters.
• Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV), IPCE, and ABPE measurements.
• Bulk charge transport, surface reaction kinetics, and recombination losses.
• Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and charge-transfer resistance analysis.
• Mott-Schottky analysis for flat-band potential and carrier density.
• IMPS for studying charge-transfer and recombination dynamics.
• Photoelectrode stability, photocorrosion, and degradation analysis.

🛠️ Hands-on Lab (Google Colab)

• Task: Develop an EIS & Mott-Schottky Data Fitting Engine to fit electrochemical datasets, estimate key parameters, and generate PEC performance plots.
• Tools Covered: Python, impedance.py, SciPy, Matplotlib, and Google Colab.

🗓️ Day 3: Reactor Engineering, Scale-Up & Techno-Economic Analysis

• Objective: Design scalable photoelectrochemical reactor systems and evaluate their engineering performance, durability, and commercial feasibility.
• Photoelectrochemical reactor architectures: planar, panel-type, and microfluidic systems.
• Light absorption, photon transport, and Beer-Lambert attenuation in photoreactors.
• Mass transport, fluid flow, and electrochemical reaction coupling.
• Hydrogen and oxygen bubble dynamics and their impact on reactor efficiency.
• Membrane separation, gas collection, and safe H₂/O₂ management.
• Tandem photoelectrodes and zero-bias water splitting systems.
• Reactor durability, scalability, and long-term performance challenges.
• Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA), Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH), and commercial viability.

🛠️ Hands-on Lab (Google Colab)

• Task: Build a Photoreactor Light & Mass-Transport Simulator to model photon flux, concentration profiles, transport behavior, and overall reactor performance.
• Tools Covered: Python, NumPy, SciPy, Plotly, and Google Colab.

This workshop is suitable for:

• Ph.D. Scholars and Researchers working in hydrogen energy, photocatalysis, electrochemistry, materials science, or renewable energy.
• Academicians and Faculty Members interested in emerging green hydrogen technologies and advanced photoelectrochemical systems.
• Industry Professionals and Engineers working in hydrogen production, energy systems, electrochemical technologies, materials development, and sustainability.
• R&D Professionals involved in catalyst development, reactor engineering, renewable fuels, and clean-energy technologies.
• Postgraduate Students in chemical engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics, energy engineering, and related disciplines seeking research-oriented exposure to photoelectrocatalysis.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain the working principles of photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production.
• Compare and evaluate semiconductor materials for water-splitting applications.
• Interpret common photoelectrochemical characterization data.
• Analyze charge-transfer resistance, flat-band potential, and carrier density.
• Understand key design parameters influencing PEC reactor performance.
• Model basic light attenuation and mass-transport behavior in photoreactors.
• Assess efficiency, stability, scalability, and economic feasibility of green hydrogen systems.
• Apply Python-based computational tools for material screening and PEC data analysis.