Active site separation of photocatalytic steam reforming of methane using a gas-phase photoelectrochemical system.

Steam reforming of methane (SRM) requires high temperatures to be promoted, and the production of carbon dioxide from the side reaction has also become a problem. In this study, we separated the reaction sites for SRM to suppress CO2 generation using a gas-phase photoelectrochemical (GPEC) system with a cell coated with a Pt/YSZ powder catalyst on an oxygen ion-conductive YSZ pellet, where the reaction was assisted by light irradiation. As a result, SRM proceeded stoichiometrically and the production of CO2 was suppressed. We expect the findings obtained by the GPEC system will be useful in providing design guidelines for photocatalysts.