Abstract
A comparative study has been performed for Laser induced photo-catalytic oxidation/splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen over Fe
2O
3, WO
3, TiO
2 and NiO catalysts under the irradiation of a strong laser beam at 355 nm for the first time. The activity of these catalysts and various electron capture agents such as Fe
+3, Ag
+, Al
+3, and Li
+ in the water splitting process was investigated. The yield of hydrogen and oxygen produced was enhanced considerably by the addition of electron capture agents.