Isotype Heterojunction-Boosted CO2 Photoreduction to CO

Chaogang Ban; Youyu Duan; Yang Wang; Jiangping Ma; Kaiwen Wang; Jiazhi Meng; Xue Liu; Cong Wang; Xiaodong Han; Guozhong Cao; Liyong Gan; Xiaoyuan Zhou

doi:10.1007/s40820-022-00821-9

Isotype Heterojunction-Boosted CO₂ Photoreduction to CO

Nanomicro Lett. 2022 Mar 12;14(1):74. doi: 10.1007/s40820-022-00821-9.

Authors

Chaogang Ban^#¹, Youyu Duan^#¹, Yang Wang¹, Jiangping Ma¹, Kaiwen Wang², Jiazhi Meng¹, Xue Liu¹, Cong Wang², Xiaodong Han², Guozhong Cao³, Liyong Gan^{4

5}, Xiaoyuan Zhou^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ College of Physics and Center of Quantum Materials and Devices, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People's Republic of China.
² Beijing Key Laboratory of Microstructure and Property of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100024, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
⁴ College of Physics and Center of Quantum Materials and Devices, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People's Republic of China. ganly@cqu.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People's Republic of China. ganly@cqu.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Physics and Center of Quantum Materials and Devices, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People's Republic of China. xiaoyuan2013@cqu.edu.cn.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People's Republic of China. xiaoyuan2013@cqu.edu.cn.
⁸ Analytical and Testing Center, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, People's Republic of China. xiaoyuan2013@cqu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Photocatalytic conversion of CO₂ to high-value products plays a crucial role in the global pursuit of carbon-neutral economy. Junction photocatalysts, such as the isotype heterojunctions, offer an ideal paradigm to navigate the photocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction (CRR). Herein, we elucidate the behaviors of isotype heterojunctions toward photocatalytic CRR over a representative photocatalyst, g-C₃N₄. Impressively, the isotype heterojunctions possess a significantly higher efficiency for the spatial separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers than the single components. Along with the intrinsically outstanding stability, the isotype heterojunctions exhibit an exceptional and stable activity toward the CO₂ photoreduction to CO. More importantly, by combining quantitative in situ technique with the first-principles modeling, we elucidate that the enhanced photoinduced charge dynamics promotes the production of key intermediates and thus the whole reaction kinetics.

Keywords: CO2 photoreduction; Charge dynamics; Isotype heterojunction; Reaction mechanism; g-C3N4.