A surface-alkalinized Ti3C2 MXene as an efficient cocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction over ZnO. Issue 14 (22nd June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Junyue; Wang, Ziyi; Chen, Huayu; Zhang, Qiqi; Hu, Huilin; Liu, Lequan; Ye, Jinhua; Wang, Defa
• Is Part Of: Catalysis science & technology. Volume 11:Issue 14(2021)
• Page Start: 4953
• Page End: 4961
• Publication Date: 2021-06-22
• Subjects: Catalysis -- Periodicals; 541.395
• DOI: 10.1039/d1cy00716e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2044-4753

Abstract

Abstract : Surface alkalinized Ti3 C2 MXene with high electronic conductivity and CO2 adsorption/activation ability is used as an efficient co-catalyst for boosting the photocatalytic activity of ZnO for CO2 reduction into hydrocarbon solar fuels. Abstract : Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) into hydrocarbon fuels has attracted increasing research attention in recent years. However, the fast recombination of photoinduced charge carriers and poor adsorption/activation capability of CO2 molecules limit the photoconversion efficiency. Herein, we report on loading a two-dimensional (2D) titanium carbide (Ti3 C2 ) MXene as a noble-metal-free cocatalyst onto zinc oxide (ZnO) via a facile electrostatic self-assembly method for efficient CO2 photoreduction. It is interesting to find that the ZnO loaded with 7.5 wt% of surface-alkalinized Ti3 C2 exhibited remarkably improved evolution rates of CO (30.30 μmol g −1 h −1 ) and CH4 (20.33 μmol g −1 h −1 ), which were approximately 7-fold and 35-fold those of bare ZnO, respectively. The surface-alkalinized Ti3 C2 MXene is believed to play a crucial role in improving the separation/transfer of photoinduced charge carriers and the adsorption/activation of CO2 molecules, accounting for the superior photocatalytic activity of CO2 reduction. Our work demonstrates that the Ti3 C2 MXene could be employed as a noble-metal-free cocatalyst for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction.