Catalytic biohydrogen production from organic waste materials: a literature review and bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Global population growth and accelerated urbanisation have resulted in massive amounts of fossil fuel use and waste production. Because of its high energy content, pure nature, and fuel quality, hydrogen fuel is a viable option to fossil fuels. Biohydrogen from agricultural waste, in particular, piques concern because it generates hydrogen while still disposing of waste. This review conducted a bibliometric analysis of biohydrogen production from organic waste to trace the research trends and hotspots based on the literature in the Web of Science (WOS) database from 1970 to 2020. The present review article also focuses on highlighting various processes for converting organic waste into hydrogen, raw materials for biohydrogen production, and catalysts that could distil the latest perceptions that could shed light on a route advancing for successful catalyst design. It also seems that some intentions have been paid on studying waste materials such as pure polysaccharides, disaccharides, and monosaccharides. Among all the catalysts used, non-noble and low-cost active metals over reduced graphene oxide (rGO) support can significantly affect the activity of fermentative hydrogen production from organic waste materials. However, researches focusing on developing anaerobic membrane bioreactors for these technologies are still needed.