Visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over SrFeO3 perovskite immobilized on polypropylene non-woven fabric

Solar-driven hydrogen production has attracted considerable interest as a route toward renewable fuel generation. In this work, a SrFeO 3 -type perovskite photocatalyst was immobilized within polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabrics using melt extrusion followed by melt blowing, producing flexible and porous photocatalytic membranes. Structural, morphological, and surface analyses confirmed the successful incorporation of the inorganic phase within the PP fibers, while XRD indicated that the predominant crystalline component was consistent with a SrFeO 3 -type perovskite structure. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible-light irradiation strongly depended on catalyst loading. The 5 wt% membrane produced 45.48 ± 4.71 µmol H 2 after 120 min, whereas the 2.5 wt% membrane exhibited the highest catalyst-normalized hydrogen evolution rate. The non-linear dependence of activity on catalyst loading was attributed to differences in catalyst accessibility, aggregation, and partial encapsulation within the polymer fibers. Reuse experiments demonstrated that the membrane remained photocatalytically active during consecutive cycles, although progressive deactivation was observed, highlighting the need for further improvement of long-term stability. These findings demonstrate the proof-of-concept feasibility of producing immobilized SrFeO 3 -based photocatalytic membranes using conventional polymer-processing technologies.