Construction of Heterostructured Sn/TiO2/Si Photocathode for Efficient Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction. Issue 8 (23rd March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Chengjin; Zhou, Xiaoxia; Zhang, Qingming; Xue, Yi; Kuang, Zhaoyu; Zhao, Han; Mou, Chung‐Yuan; Chen, Hangrong
• Is Part Of: ChemSusChem. Volume 15:Issue 8(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-03-23
• Subjects: CO2 reduction -- formic acid -- photocathode -- photoelectrochemistry -- Sn/TiO2/Si; Green chemistry -- Periodicals; Sustainable engineering -- Periodicals; Chemistry -- Periodicals; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; 660
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202200188
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1864-5631

Abstract

Abstract: Using renewable energy to convert CO2 into liquid products, as a sustainable way to produce fuels and chemicals, has attracted intense attention. Herein, a novel heterostructured photocathode composed of Si wafer, TiO2 layer, and Sn metal particles has been successfully fabricated by combining of a facile hydrothermal and electrodeposition method. The obtained Sn/TiO2 /Si photocathode shows enhanced light absorption performance by the surface plasmon resonance effect of Sn metal. Especially, the Sn/TiO2 /Si photocathode together with rich oxygen vacancy defects jointly promote photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction, harvesting a high faradaic efficiency of HCOOH and a desirable average current density (−4.72 mA cm −2 ) at −1.0 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. Significantly, the photocathode Sn/TiO2 /Si also shows good stability due to the design of protecting layer TiO2 . This study provides a facile strategy of constructing an efficient photocathode to improve the light absorption performance and the electron transfer efficiency, exhibiting great potential in the CO2 reduction. Abstract : CO2 to formic acid : A novel kind of Sn/TiO2 /Si photocathode is developed for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR), which shows excellent selectivity to HCOOH under applied potential. The improved light performance and heterojunction composite structure, together with the modulated electronic configuration, co‐contribute to the high CO2 RR performance.