Ammar A. Melaibari

Financing education has recently been a big concern since educational expenditure continues to rise. As a result, there will be a gradual shift away from the “unilateral approach” to funding and toward the “diversification of financing resources”. The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative strategy plan to optimize universities’ investment sources and maintain their financial sustainability. This approach was known as the Green Ocean Strategy for Financial Sustainability (GOSFS). To effectively implement GOSFS in higher education institutions, a roadmap of 18 steps is constructed around three primary key performance areas (resource development, good governance, and regulations and legislation). The GOSFS was applied within four successive stages at King Abdulaziz University as a case study. With 18 pillars found under these three key performance areas, a long-term target for 2045 and an overall goal for 2025 were defined. In addition, the paper created novel versions of the Business Model Canvas to meet the GOSFS plan concept. To effectively employ GOSFS, four recommendations are offered to accelerate business growth and engage the university investment ecosystem, including whether to invest in highly qualified human capital, expand financial resources, or leverage technical resources. Future directions are also provided.

Nanomaterials have attracted attention for application in photocatalytic hydrogen production because of their beneficial properties such as high specific surface area, attractive morphology, and high light absorption. Furthermore, hydrogen is a clean and green source of energy that may help to resolve the existing energy crisis and increasing environmental pollution caused by the consumption of fossil fuels. Among various hydrogen production methods, photocatalytic water splitting is most significant because it utilizes solar light, a freely available energy source throughout the world, activated via semiconductor nanomaterial catalysts. Various types of photocatalysts are developed for this purpose, including carbon-based and transition-metal-based photocatalysts, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. The present review highlights the basic principle of water splitting and various techniques such as the thermochemical process, electrocatalytic process, and direct solar water splitting to enhance hydrogen production. Moreover, modification strategies such as band gap engineering, semiconductor alloys, and multiphoton photocatalysts have been reviewed. Furthermore, the Z- and S-schemes of heterojunction photocatalysts for water splitting were also reviewed. Ultimately, the strategies for developing efficient, practical, highly efficient, and novel visible-light-harvesting photocatalysts will be discussed, in addition to the challenges that are involved. This review can provide researchers with a reference for the current state of affairs, and may motivate them to develop new materials for hydrogen generation.