Unique Dual-Sites Boosting Overall CO2 Photoconversion by Hierarchical Electron Harvesters

Abstract

Low selectivity and poor activity of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction process are usually limiting factors for its applicability. Herein, a hierarchical electron harvesting system is designed on CoNiP hollow nano-millefeuille (CoNiP NH), which enables the charge enrichment on CoNi dual active sites and selective conversion of CO₂ to CH₄ . The CoNiP serves as an electron harvester and photonic "black hole" accelerating the kinetics for CO₂ -catalyzed reactions. Moreover, the dual sites form from highly stable CoONiC intermediates, which thermodynamically not only lower the reaction energy barrier but also transform the reaction pathways, thus enabling the highly selective generation of CH₄ from CO₂ . As an outcome, the CoNiP NH/black phosphorus with dual sites leads to a tremendously improved photocatalytic CH₄ generation with a selectivity of 86.6% and an impressive activity of 38.7 µmol g^-1 h^-1 .

Keywords: CO 2 photo conversion; alloy; black phosphorus; dual sites; hierarchical electron harvesters; photocatalytic.