Near-Infrared-Responsive Photocatalytic CO2 Conversion via In Situ Generated Co3O4/Cu2O

• Published in: ACS nano 2023-06, Vol.17 (11), p.10976-10986
• Main Authors: Bai, Shengjie, Jing, Wenhao, He, Guiwei, Liao, Chen, Wang, Feng, Liu, Ya, Guo, Liejin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c03118

Photocatalytic CO2 conversion to fuels is a promising strategy for achieving global carbon neutrality. However, infrared light, which accounts for ∼50% of the full sunlight spectrum, has not yet been effectively utilized via photocatalysis. Here, we present an approach to directly power photocatalytic CO2 reduction using near-infrared light. This near-infrared light-responsive process occurs on an in situ generated Co3O4/Cu2O photocatalyst with a nanobranch structure. Photoassisted Kelvin probe force microscopy and relative photocatalytic measurements demonstrate the increase of surface photovoltage after illumination by near-infrared light. We also find that Cu­(I) on this in situ generated Co3O4/Cu2O could facilitate the formation of a *CHO intermediate, thus enabling a high-performance CH4 production with a yield of 6.5 μmol/h and a selectivity of 99%. Moreover, we perform a practically oriented direct solar-driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction under concentrated sunlight and achieve a fuel yield of 12.5 μmol/h.