Light-Based and Lightweight, Aerogel Photocatalyst Enables Efficient Hydrogen Production

With appropriate pretreatment, aerogels could serve as efficient, visible light-active photocatalysts for industrial use. The Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials at ETH Zurich, headed by professor Markus Niederberger, demonstrated that nanoparticle-based aerogels can be doped with nitrogen to make them visible-light active for photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) production.