Synergistic enhancement of photocatalytic CO2 reduction by plasmonic Au nanoparticles on TiO2 decorated N-graphene heterostructure catalyst for high selectivity methane production

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Environmental, 2022-06, Vol.307, p.121181, Article 121181
• Main Authors: Kamal, Khaja Mohaideen, Narayan, Rekha, Chandran, Narendraraj, Popović, Stefan, Nazrulla, Mohammed Azeezulla, Kovač, Janez, Vrtovec, Nika, Bele, Marjan, Hodnik, Nejc, Kržmanc, Marjeta Maček, Likozar, Blaž
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Catalysts; Charge transfer; Energy efficiency; Gold; Graphene; Heterostructures; Metallic gold nanoparticles; Methane; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen-doped graphene; Photocatalysis; Photocatalytic CO2 reduction; Plasmonics; Recombination; Reduction; Selectivity; Titanium dioxide; Titanium dioxide semiconductor
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2022.121181

Energy-efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction (PCO2R) into sustainable solar fuels is a highly enticing challenge for simultaneous settling of energy and environmental issues. Herein, we illustrate the synthesis and photocatalytic performance of a judiciously designed plasmonic Au nanoparticles photodeposited on TiO2-decorated N-doped graphene (ANGT-x) heterostructure catalyst showing remarkably enhanced CO2 reduction activity with high selectivity for methane production. Compared to typical binary Au-TiO2 photocatalyst, the ANGT2 exhibited almost 60 times higher electron consumption rate (Relectron) value ~ 742.39 µmol g−1h−1 for the reduced products, which, to the best of our knowledge is the highest PCO2R rate ever reported under comparable conditions. The superior performance of ANGT2 catalyst is attributed to the synergistic contributions from improved light absorbance, enhanced CO2 uptake together with improved charge transfer kinetics and efficient suppression of photogenerated (e-h) recombination rate bestowed by seamless interfacial contact between Au NPs and N-graphene-TiO2 components. [Display omitted] •We demonstrate a series of Au-TiO2 decorated N-doped graphene successfully synthesized by multistep preparation process.•N-doped graphene based heterostructure composites demonstrated high efficiency for photocatalytic CO2 reduction.•From the aspect of electron consumption rate for the reduced products, the value is 742.39 µmolg−1h−1 for ANGT2.•The achieved catalytic activity was ~4 and ~60 folds higher than that of ANGT0 and binary AT2 catalysts, respectively.•This kind of distinctive photocatalytic system has greatly overcome the drawbacks compared with single/multi components.