Selective CO Evolution from Photoreduction of CO2 on a Metal-Carbide-Based Composite Catalyst

Yu-Long Men; Ya You; Yun-Xiang Pan; Hongcai Gao; Yang Xia; Dang-Guo Cheng; Jie Song; Da-Xiang Cui; Nan Wu; Yutao Li; Sen Xin; John B Goodenough

doi:10.1021/jacs.8b08552

Selective CO Evolution from Photoreduction of CO₂ on a Metal-Carbide-Based Composite Catalyst

J Am Chem Soc. 2018 Oct 10;140(40):13071-13077. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b08552. Epub 2018 Oct 1.

Authors

Yu-Long Men¹, Ya You², Yun-Xiang Pan¹, Hongcai Gao², Yang Xia³, Dang-Guo Cheng³, Jie Song¹, Da-Xiang Cui¹, Nan Wu², Yutao Li², Sen Xin², John B Goodenough²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering , Shanghai Jiao Tong University , Shanghai 200240 , P. R. China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering , The University of Texas at Austin , Austin , Texas 78712 , United States.
³ College of Chemical and Biological Engineering , Zhejiang University , 38 Zheda Road , Hangzhou 310027 , P. R. China.

PMID: 30222934
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b08552

Abstract

A selective CO evolution from photoreduction of CO₂ in water was achieved on a noble-metal-free, carbide-based composite catalyst, as demonstrated by a CO selectivity of 98.3% among all carbon-containing products and a CO evolution rate of 29.2 μmol h^-1, showing superiority to noble-metal-based catalyst. A rapid separation of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs and improved CO₂ adsorption on the surface of the carbide component are responsible for the excellent performance of the catalyst. The high CO selectivity is accompanied by a predominant H₂ evolution, which is believed to provide a proton-deficient environment around the catalyst to favor the formation of hydrogen-deficient carbon products. The present work provides general insights into the design of a catalyst with a high product selectivity and also the carbon evolution chemistry during a photocatalytic reaction.