Design of PdAu alloy plasmonic nanoparticles for improved catalytic performance in CO2 reduction with visible light irradiation. (August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Huimin; Li, Mu; Dao, Thang Duy; Liu, Yanyu; Zhou, Wei; Liu, Lequan; Meng, Xianguang; Nagao, Tadaaki; Ye, Jinhua
• Is Part Of: Nano energy. Volume 26(2016:Aug.)
• Page Start: 398
• Page End: 404
• Publication Date: 2016-08
• Subjects: CO2 reforming of methane -- Electronic structure -- Localized surface plasmon resonance -- Alloy -- Visible light; Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanostructured materials -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Nanoscience; Nanostructured materials; Nanotechnology; Power resources -- Technological innovations; Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.05.045
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-2855

Abstract

Abstract: Photo-catalytically reducing CO2 into valuable compounds is beneficial for both relieving the fossil fuel crisis and protecting the environment, and has become one of the hotspots in photocatalytic area recently. In this research, earth-abundant natural gas was adopted as the reductant, and visible light assisted CO2 reduction with methane (CRM) was selected as the probe reaction. The alloys between a group 8 metal and a group 11 element, PdAu alloy in this case, were developed as catalysts. It is found that, by increasing the content of Au in the Pdx Auy alloys, the electronic structure of Pd could be gradually tuned to electron deficient, which favored the stability of the Pdx Auy /Al2 O3 catalysts in thermal-driven CRM with partially reduced activities. Meanwhile, the plasmonic absorption in visible light region and the electromagnetic field induced by hot electrons were enhanced in Au-containing Pdx Auy alloys, which facilitated CO2 activation to oxygen radical and was regarded to be responsible for further accelerating the reaction rate with visible light irradiation. At the same time, the electronic structure and the stability of the catalysts remained nearly uninfluenced with extra light irradiation. With the co-assistance of electronic structure and plasmonic property of Pdx Auy alloys, the stability of Pd90 Au10 /Al2 O3 catalyst was effectively improved and the activity was not sacrificed compared with the reference Pd/Al2 O3 . The stability improvement strategy achieved in this work, together with the enhanced reactant activation capacity of group 11 elements, offers an avenue to synthesize catalysts with both enhanced catalytic stability and activity with visible light irradiation. This study provides promising approach for applying alloys in photo-driven or photo-assisted reaction systems. Graphical abstract: Highlights: Visible light assisted CO2 reduction with methane was selected as probe reaction. The stability of Pd90 Au10 /Al2 O3 was improved without sacrificing initial activity. Electronic structure and plasmonic property of Pdx Auy enhanced the performances.