Review of sustainable solar hydrogen production using photon fuel on artificial leaf

Energy conversion from the renewable energy sources with suitable energy storage plays a vital role in the sustainable development. Sustainable hydrogen production from the solar energy is well suited for energy storage applications because of inherent high mass energy density of hydrogen. This manuscript reviewing the techniques required for the sustainable solar hydrogen production using photon fuel on artificial leaf, i.e. solar cell. The designing and assembling of artificial solar leaf, which is the replica of natural leaf and capable of harnessing full solar spectrum, are deliberated. This technology for sustainable solar hydrogen production will overlay a viable way for more real-world applications of traditional as well new generation solar cells, e.g. multi-junction solar cells coated with variable band gap of quantum materials, in the future. This, also, results in the successive control on carbon emission by converting abundantly present CO2/CO into meaningful future industrial fuel, therefore, generating hydrogen, known as photon fuel, via successfully harnessing the wide spectrum of the solar radiation. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.