Boosting photocatalytic CO2 reduction via Schottky junction with ZnCr layered double hydroxide nanoflakes aggregated on 2D Ti3C2Tx cocatalyst

Boye Zhou; Yong Yang; Zhengchu Liu; Niandu Wu; Yuxiang Yan; Zhao Wenhua; Huichao He; Jun Du; Yongcai Zhang; Yong Zhou; Zhigang Zou

doi:10.1039/d2nr01448c

Boosting photocatalytic CO₂ reduction via Schottky junction with ZnCr layered double hydroxide nanoflakes aggregated on 2D Ti₃C₂T_x cocatalyst

Nanoscale. 2022 May 26;14(20):7538-7546. doi: 10.1039/d2nr01448c.

Authors

Boye Zhou^{1

2}, Yong Yang³, Zhengchu Liu^{1

2}, Niandu Wu¹, Yuxiang Yan¹, Zhao Wenhua¹, Huichao He⁴, Jun Du¹, Yongcai Zhang⁵, Yong Zhou^{1

2

6}, Zhigang Zou^{1

2

6}

Affiliations

¹ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China. zhouyong1999@nju.edu.cn.
² Eco-Materials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Nano Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials (MOE), Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, P. R. China. yychem@njust.edu.cn.
⁴ Institute of Environmental Energy Materials and Intelligent Devices, School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China.
⁵ Yangzhou University, School of Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou 225002, P. R. China.
⁶ School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hongkong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China.

PMID: 35535656
DOI: 10.1039/d2nr01448c

Abstract

Designing efficient photocatalysts is vital for the photoreduction of CO₂ to produce solar fuels, helping to alleviate issues of fossil fuel depletion and global warming. In this work, a novel ZnCr-LDH/Ti₃C₂T_x Schottky junction is successfully synthesized using an in situ coprecipitation method. ZnCr-LDH nanoflakes collectively grow on the surface of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene nanosheets. When using Ti₃C₂T_x MXene as a cocatalyst in the prepared heterojunction, the light absorption intensity, photo-induced electron separation and migration efficiency increase. As a result, the composite ZnCr-LDH/Ti₃C₂T_x results in significant improvement in the performance of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction under simulated solar irradiation. The optimized sample ZCTC25 has the highest photocatalytic CO₂ reduction rates of 122.45 μmol g^-1 CO and 19.95 μmol g^-1 CH₄ (after 6 h of irradiation). These values are approximately 2.65 times higher than those of pristine ZnCr-LDH. The product selectivity towards CO is 86%. This work provides a new method for the construction of novel 2D semiconductor photocatalysts and enriches the application of an unusual type of layered double hydroxides in the photoreduction of CO₂.