THE EFFECT OF NACL ADDITION TO TIO₂/NISE/NC PHOTOCATALYTIC FOR HYDROGEN GAS PRODUCTION

The widespread utilization of fossil fuel has resulted in fuel scarcity due to population growth and increased industrialization, driving the evolution of new renewable energy sources (NRE). Alternatively, hydrogen production through solar water splitting and TiO₂ as a potential photocatalyst can be developed due to its good stability, environmental friendliness, and economic viability. However, TiO₂ has the disadvantage of a wide bandgap that requires high energy and fast recombination. Therefore, in this research, TiO₂/NiSe (TN) was synthesized with N doped carbon dopant modified with NaCl as a photocatalyst material through a solvothermal method. The characterized material using XRD, SEM, UV-DRS, BET, and FTIR. Photocatalytic activity tests were conducted to determine hydrogen production using an MQ8 sensor integrated with an Arduino microcontroller system. The synthesized materials are TN, TNC-0, and TNC-10. The addition of NaCl in carbon doped nitrogen materials of photocatalyst TNC-10 shows a reduction of the bandgap that is the lowest bandgap value obtained was 3.09eV. The photocatalytic activity test results showed a hydrogen production of 120 ppm for TNC-10, which is six-times higher compared to bare TiO₂ as a photocatalyst. The increase in hydrogen gas production is due to the addition of NaCl to NC, which can enhance the photocatalytic activity and hydrogen adsorption on the catalyst surface during hydrogen production.