Issue 36, 2018

Order engineering on the lattice of intermetallic PdCu co-catalysts for boosting the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into CH4

Abstract

Photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to CH4, a promising approach to reduce the depletion of fossil fuels and concomitant global warming, is greatly limited by the production of CO and H2 by side reactions. Rational design of co-catalysts holds promise to address this grand challenge. In this paper, via the transformation from a random A1 alloy phase to an ordered B2 intermetallic phase, order engineering is performed on PdCu co-catalysts to realize enhanced photocatalytic activity and selectivity in reduction of CO2 with H2O to CH4. Based on the experimental results of PdCu co-catalysts with different ordered degrees of atomic arrangement obtained through tuning the annealing temperatures and Pd/Cu molar ratios, two effects are proposed to contribute to this enhancement: (1) the strong electronic interaction between Pd and Cu atoms in the periodic structure increases the electron trapping ability of ordered PdCu co-catalysts; (2) the periodic structure increases the number of isolated Cu atoms in the ordered PdCu co-catalysts, which act as highly active catalytic sites in the reduction of CO2 to CH4. This work represents a step toward the design of high-performance photocatalysts through lattice engineering of the co-catalysts with atomic precision.

Graphical abstract: Order engineering on the lattice of intermetallic PdCu co-catalysts for boosting the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into CH4

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Jun 2018
Accepted
15 Aug 2018
First published
17 Aug 2018

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 17444-17456

Order engineering on the lattice of intermetallic PdCu co-catalysts for boosting the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into CH4

X. Cai, A. Wang, J. Wang, R. Wang, S. Zhong, Y. Zhao, L. Wu, J. Chen and S. Bai, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 17444 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA06204H

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