Visible-light-driven CO2 reduction with carbon nitride: enhancing the activity of ruthenium catalysts

Ryo Kuriki; Keita Sekizawa; Osamu Ishitani; Kazuhiko Maeda

doi:10.1002/anie.201411170

Visible-light-driven CO2 reduction with carbon nitride: enhancing the activity of ruthenium catalysts

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015 Feb 16;54(8):2406-9. doi: 10.1002/anie.201411170. Epub 2015 Jan 7.

Authors

Ryo Kuriki¹, Keita Sekizawa, Osamu Ishitani, Kazuhiko Maeda

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-NE-2 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550 (Japan).

PMID: 25565575
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201411170

Abstract

A heterogeneous photocatalyst system that consists of a ruthenium complex and carbon nitride (C3N4), which act as the catalytic and light-harvesting units, respectively, was developed for the reduction of CO2 into formic acid. Promoting the injection of electrons from C3N4 into the ruthenium unit as well as strengthening the electronic interactions between the two units enhanced its activity. The use of a suitable solvent further improved the performance, resulting in a turnover number of greater than 1000 and an apparent quantum yield of 5.7% at 400 nm. These are the best values that have been reported for heterogeneous photocatalysts for CO2 reduction under visible-light irradiation to date.

Keywords: artificial photosynthesis; carbon dioxide fixation; carbon nitride; heterogeneous photocatalysis; semiconductors.