Viable production of hydrogen and methane from polluted water using eco-friendly plasmonic Pd–TiO(2) nanocomposites

Solar-to-fuel conversion is a novel clean energy approach that has gained the interest of many researchers. Solar-driven photocatalysts have become essential to providing valuable fuel gases such as methane and hydrogen. Solar energy has emerged as a renewable, abundant energy source that can efficiently drive photochemical reactions through plasmonic photocatalysis. As a capping agent, orange peel extract was used in this study in a microwave-assisted green method to incorporate titanium dioxide with distinct amounts (3, 5, and 7 wt%) from Pd-plasmonic nanoparticles (2–5 nm). The leading role for plasmonic nanoparticles made from Pd-metal is enhancing the photocatalyst's ability to capture visible light, improving its performance. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area analysis, and UV-vis DRS analyses have investigated the obtained plasmonic photocatalysts' crystallographic, morphological, and optical characteristics. The UV-vis absorption spectra demonstrated the visible light absorption capacity attributed to the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) behavior of the newly formed nanoplasmonic photocatalysts. The generated Pd–TiO(2) nanomaterials' photocatalytic activity has been examined and evaluated for combustible gas production, including the formation of CH(4) and H(2) from the photocatalytic degradation of Reactive Yellow 15 (RY) during a deoxygenated photoreaction in a homemade solar photobiogas reactor.