Light-assisted thermochemical reduction of CuFe2O4 within a photo-thermogravimetric analyser for solar fuel production

The solar thermochemical cycle has emerged as a promising clean energy technology that enables the splitting of water for solar fuel production. However, conventional two-step thermochemical cycles using single-metal oxides require high operating temperatures above 1000 degrees C, especially for the reduction step. Typical solar thermal systems struggle to meet such high temperature requirements, making it vital to reduce the operating temperature. To find a solution enabling lower temperature requirements, we propose a photo-thermochemical reduction (PTR) strategy, which employs light illumination as assistance, combining both thermally induced and photo-induced effects for more generation of oxygen vacancies (V(O)s), within the oxygen carrier copper ferrite (CuFe2O4). Experimental studies were performed in a specially-designed photo-thermogravimetric analyser (photo-TGA) that directly measures the weight change of solid reactants under direct light illumination. The results indicate that the PTR achieves a decrease of nearly 40 degrees C in temperature requirements, giving a higher oxygen release of 21% compared to that driven by pure thermal heating at 800 degrees C. We also measured an increase of 0.09 in the non-stoichiometry parameter delta in the photo-TGA. Additionally, we observed that oxygen release increases distinctly with the light intensity of incident illumination. From the viewpoint of spectral ranges, ultraviolet and visible light illumination give the primary boost to the generation of photo-induced V(O)s. These results demonstrate the effective assistance of concentrated solar energy to enhance the two-step thermochemical cycle for solar fuel production at lower temperatures.