Solar‐driven catalysts on semiconductors to produce hydrogen are considered as a means to solve environmental issues. In this study, H₂ production coupling with oxygen consumption by noble metal‐free α‐FeOOH was demonstrated even though the conduction band edge was lower than the reduction potential of H⁺ to H₂. For activation of α‐FeOOH, an electron donor, Hg‐Xe irradiation, and low pH (ca. 5) were indispensable factors. The H₂ production from H₂O was confirmed by GC‐MS using isotope‐labeled water (D₂O) and deuterated methanol. The α‐FeOOH synthesized by coprecipitation method showed 25 times more active than TiO₂. The photocatalytic activity was stable for over 400 h. Our study suggests that α‐FeOOH known as rust can produce H₂ by light induction.

中文翻译：

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光诱导α-FeO​​OH结合光还原制氢系统

太阳能驱动半导体上的催化剂产生氢气被认为是解决环境问题的一种手段。在这项研究中，尽管导带边低于H ⁺还原为H _2的电势，但仍证明了H _2的产生与无贵金属α-FeO​​OH的耗氧量相关。对于α-FeO​​OH的活化，电子给体，Hg-Xe辐射和低pH（约5）是必不可少的因素。为H ₂选自H生产₂ O的通过GC-MS使用同位素标记的水（d确认₂ O）和氘化甲醇。共沉淀法合成的α-FeO​​OH的活性是TiO _2的25倍。该光催化活性稳定超过400小时。我们的研究表明，被称为铁锈的α-FeO​​OH可以通过光感应产生H ₂。