Hydrogen sulfide is an extremely toxic gas which is generated from both nature factors and human factors. A proper method for the efficient decomposition of hydrogen is of great importance. Using traditional Claus process, hydrogen sulfide could be decomposed into hydrogen oxide and sulfur. One drawback of this process is that the energy stored in hydrogen sulfide is partially wasted by the formation of hydrogen oxide. In fact, the energy could be utilized for the generation of hydrogen, a potential energy source in future, or other chemical products. Various methods that could possibly make better use of hydrogen sulfide have been studied in recent years, like thermal decomposition, plasma method, electrochemical method, and photochemical method. In particular, there have been high hopes in photochemical method due to the possible direct solar energy conversion into chemical energy. Unlike traditional photocatalytic water splitting, hydrogen sulfide decomposition is more accessible from the thermodynamic point of view. Photocatalytic hydrogen sulfide decomposition could occur in both gas phase and solution phase and various systems have been reported. Besides, the photoelectrochemical decomposition of hydrogen sulfide is also highlighted. In this chapter, we will simply introduce the current situation for photochemical decomposition of hydrogen sulfide.
Part of the book: Advanced Catalytic Materials