W18O49/MnWO4 heterojunction for highly efficient photocatalytic reduction of CO2 under full spectrum light

Baolin Zhao; Fuping Li; Jinpeng Wang; Yubiao Li; Zhenlun Wei; Wanqing Li; Qiang Ma; Xiaoyong Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.041

W₁₈O₄₉/MnWO₄ heterojunction for highly efficient photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ under full spectrum light

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Aug:643:393-402. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.041. Epub 2023 Apr 14.

Authors

Baolin Zhao¹, Fuping Li¹, Jinpeng Wang¹, Yubiao Li², Zhenlun Wei¹, Wanqing Li¹, Qiang Ma¹, Xiaoyong Wu³

Affiliations

¹ School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
² School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: yubiao.li@whut.edu.cn.
³ School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: parawu521@163.com.

PMID: 37084619
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.041

Abstract

Solar-energy-driven CO₂ reduction for chemical reagents production, such as CH₃OH, CH₄ and CO, has tremendous potential for carbon neutrality in the energy industries. However, the low reduction efficiency limits its applicability. Herein, W₁₈O₄₉/MnWO₄ (WMn) heterojunctions were prepared via one-step in-situ solvothermal process. Through this method, W₁₈O₄₉ tightly combined with the surface of MnWO₄ nanofibers to form nanoflower heterojunction. It was found that under full spectrum light irradiation for 4 h, the yields of photoreduction of CO₂ to CO, CH₄ and CH₃OH by 3-1 WMn heterojunction were 61.74, 71.30 and 18.98 μmol/g, respectively, which were 2.4, 1.8 and 1.1 times that of pristine W₁₈O₄₉, and ca.20 times that of pristine MnWO₄ towards CO production. Furthermore, even in the air atmosphere, the WMn heterojunction still performed excellent photocatalytic performance. Systematic investigations demonstrated that the catalytic performance of WMn heterojunction was improved by superior light utilization and more efficient photo-generated carrier separation and migration as compared with W₁₈O₄₉ and MnWO₄. Meanwhile, the intermediate products of the photocatalytic CO₂ reduction process were also studied in detail by in-situ FTIR. Therefore, this study provides a new way for designing high efficiency of heterojunction for CO₂ reduction.

Keywords: CO(2) photoreduction; Heterojunction; MnWO(4); W(18)O(49).