Hydrogen and oxygen generation by Photoelectrolysis and Special Constructed Photoelectrolyzer Powered by Light Energy for Hydrogen Electric Vehicle Charging

Abstract

Today, pure hydrogen is produced by various industrial methods, including: steam reforming of methane and natural gas; coal gasification; biotechnology; electrolysis of water, etc. The most effective method for obtaining pure hydrogen is the use of photoelectrolysis of an aqueous solution of an electrolyte, flowing in a photoelectrochemical cell. In this method, the hydrogen in the photoelectrochemical cell is produced directly from solar energy. In a photoelectrochemical cell, a silicon semiconductor with an attached anode, immersed in an aqueous electrolyte solution, is excited by the loss of two electrons when exposed by two photons of light, and with the help of two "holes" returns two electrons, formed by splitting a water molecule from an aqueous electrolyte solution into two hydrogen cations and half an oxygen molecule, which floats from the anode to the free surface of an aqueous electrolyte solution in the form of a electrolytic oxygen bubble. The resulting two hydrogen cations, reaching the cathode due to its negative charge, form a gaseous hydrogen molecule, which in an aqueous electrolyte solution takes the form of an electrolytic hydrogen bubble that floats from the cathode to the free surface of the aqueous electrolyte solution. However, the photoelectrochemical cells, used today lose most of the light energy due to the high resistance of the conductive medium between the electrodes, are expensive, have limitations in a material that significantly reduces their efficiency. The article presents a new application of ordinary water photoelectrolysis, which, using a specially designed new photoelectrolyzer, powered by light energy, produces pure hydrogen and oxygen for hydrogen electric vehicle charging at a price below the market in a continuously operating closed cycle: tank with ordinary water + photoelectrolyzer: formation of electrolytic gas hydrogen and oxygen bubbles + fuel cell charging and electric vehicle engine operation + steam water + plain water tank. The developed photoelectrolyzer, in contrast to existing photoelectrochemical cells, has a specially designed electrolysis base, including a fire hose material membrane, located between a silicon semiconductor with an attached mesh anode; a cathode, made from burnt graphite and a mechanism for adjusting of the gap between the electrodes, located at the bottom of the photoelectrolyzer.