Abstract
Applications of biochar-based materials in catalytic and photocatalytic processes are presented in this work. Sawdust from a soft wood was used to prepared biochars by carbonization, thermochemical and physical activation and these biochars were used as a co-support for the H2 photoproduction on Au-TiO2/biochars under visible irradiation. A remarkable increase in the photocatalytic activity of the composite up to a factor about 3 times higher than the commercial catalyst free of biochars was found and ascribed to the surface pH of biochars. Biomass-derived molecules such as furfural, chitosane, and saccharose were used as carbon source to prepare hybrid C-TiO2 materials by solvothermal synthesis. It was found that carbonized hybrid TiO2-C supports led to an important enhancement in the catalytic activity of Pd-based catalysts in the electrooxidation of formic acid with a maxima density power up to 3.3 times higher than the same catalyst supported on a commercial carbon. In addition, Pd-based catalysts showed that hybrid Biochar-TiO2 supports can be designed to control the selectivity of phenol hydrogenation (up to 100% yield) to cyclohexanone or cyclohexanol by controlling the chemical nature of the biochar-based supports. Enhancements up to a factor about 2 and 5 times higher photocatalytic activity that the commercial semiconductor were found in the photodegradation of methylene blue under visible irradiation by using S-doped and N-doped Biochar-based/TiO2 materials.