Metal-Organic Framework Decorated Cuprous Oxide Nanowires for Long-lived Charges Applied in Selective Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction to CH4

Hao Wu; Xin Ying Kong; Xiaoming Wen; Siang-Piao Chai; Emma C Lovell; Junwang Tang; Yun Hau Ng

doi:10.1002/anie.202015735

Metal-Organic Framework Decorated Cuprous Oxide Nanowires for Long-lived Charges Applied in Selective Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction to CH₄

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Apr 6;60(15):8455-8459. doi: 10.1002/anie.202015735. Epub 2021 Mar 3.

Authors

Hao Wu^{1

2}, Xin Ying Kong³, Xiaoming Wen⁴, Siang-Piao Chai³, Emma C Lovell², Junwang Tang⁵, Yun Hau Ng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
² Particles and Catalysis Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
³ Multidisciplinary Platform of Advanced Engineering, Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁴ Centre for Translational Atomaterials, Faculty of Science Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, John Street, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE, UK.

PMID: 33368920
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202015735

Abstract

Improving the stability of cuprous oxide (Cu₂ O) is imperative to its practical applications in artificial photosynthesis. In this work, Cu₂ O nanowires are encapsulated by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) of Cu₃ (BTC)₂ (BTC=1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylate) using a surfactant-free method. Such MOFs not only suppress the water vapor-induced corrosion of Cu₂ O but also facilitate charge separation and CO₂ uptake, thus resulting in a nanocomposite representing 1.9 times improved activity and stability for selective photocatalytic CO₂ reduction into CH₄ under mild reaction conditions. Furthermore, direct transfer of photogenerated electrons from the conduction band of Cu₂ O to the LUMO level of non-excited Cu₃ (BTC)₂ has been evidenced by time-resolved photoluminescence. This work proposes an effective strategy for CO₂ conversion by a synergy of charge separation and CO₂ adsorption, leading to the enhanced photocatalytic reaction when MOFs are integrated with metal oxide photocatalyst.

Keywords: carbon dioxide fixation; charge transfer; metal-organic frameworks; nanostructures; photosynthesis.

Abstract

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