Author(s)

Kahina Bounache¹, Amel Boudjemaa^1,2, Souhila Boumaza¹, Meriem Haddad¹, Warda Tallas¹, Akila Belhadi^1*, Mohamed Trari³

¹Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural gas, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene, Algiers, Algeria.
²Centre de Recherche Scientifique et Technique en Analyses Physico-Chimique, Tipaza, Algeria.
³Laboratory of Storage and Valorization of Renewable Energies, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene, Algiers, Algeria.

MoO₃ and 5% MoO₃/ZnO were prepared by impregnation method using (NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄, 4H₂O as precursor and ZnO as support. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), infra red (FTIR) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) spectroscopies and photo-electrochemistry. The XRD pattern showed that the MoO₃ powder treated at 700°C is a single-phase crystallizing in an orthorhombic structure with a direct optical transition (2.70 eV). The hetero-junction 5% MoO₃/ZnO was photo-electrochemically characterized to assess its feasibility for H₂ production under visible light. The capacitance potential (C^-2 f(E)) characteristic of MoO₃ plotted in Na₂SO₄, (0.1 M) electrolyte indicates n-type conduction with a flat band potential of -0.54 V_SCE. The photocatalytic activity was performed for the photoreduction of water to hydrogen under visible light illumination. The best performance occurs at pH ~ 7 with an evolved volume of 5.9 mL.

MoO₃/ZnO, Hetero-Junction, Photocatalysis, Hydrogen, Visible Light

Bounache, K. , Boudjemaa, A. , Boumaza, S. , Haddad, M. , Tallas, W. , Belhadi, A. and Trari, M. (2021) Visible Light Hydrogen Evolution over α-MoO₃ and α-MoO₃/ZnO Hetero-Junction. Open Journal of Physical Chemistry, 11, 144-156. doi: 10.4236/ojpc.2021.113008.