Decoupling H₂ and O₂ Release in Particulate Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting Using a Reversible O₂ Binder

H₂ and O₂ evolutions occur simultaneously for conventional particulate photocatalytic overall water splitting (PPOWS), leading to a significant backward reaction and the formation of an explosive H₂/O₂ gas mixture. This is an issue that must be addressed prior to industrialization of PPOWS. Here, a convenient, cost-effective, and scalable concept is introduced to uncouple hydrogen and oxygen production for PPOWS. Based on this idea, a three-component photocatalyst, Co(5 %)-HPCN/(rGO/Pt), is constructed, consisting of a photoresponsive chip (HPCN), a H₂ evolution cocatalyst (rGO/Pt), and a cobalt complex capable of reversibly binding O₂ (Co), to achieve the decoupling of PPOWS under alternating UV and visible light irradiations. The asynchronous O₂ and H₂ evolution strategy have considerable flexibility regarding the photocatalyst structure and light sources suitable for PPOWS.