Photodecomposition of water with methane over titanium oxide photocatalysts modified with metal

Metal-loaded titanium oxide photocatalysts produced hydrogen in the photodecomposition of water vapor with methane in the flow reactor. Ag/TiO2 has the highest activity in comparison with other metal-loaded catalysts. The experiment in the absence of methane indicated that methane could effectively function as a reducing reagent of water. The significant decrease in the hydrogen formation rate with the time on stream was observed under all reaction conditions. The recalcination and the hydrogen rereduction of the used catalyst led to the restoration of the activity of the hydrogen formation. The adsorption of products and/or reactants on the catalyst surface seemed to cause these deactivations of the hydrogen formation.