Hydrogen production through catalytic water splitting using liquid-phase plasma over bismuth ferrite catalyst

This study examined the H₂ production characteristics from a decomposition reaction using liquid-phase plasma with a bismuth ferrite catalyst. The catalyst was prepared using a sol–gel reaction method. The physicochemical and optical properties of bismuth ferrite were analyzed. H₂ production was carried out from a distilled water and aqueous methanol solution by direct irradiation via liquid-phase plasma. The catalyst absorbed visible-light over 610 nm. The measured bandgap of the bismuth ferrite was approximately 2.0 eV. The liquid-phase plasma emitted UV and visible-light simultaneously according to optical emission spectrometry. Bismuth ferrite induced a higher H₂ production rate than the TiO₂ photocatalyst because it responds to both UV and visible light generated from the liquid-phase plasma.