A carbon-based photocatalyst efficiently converts CO₂ to CH₄ and C₂H₂ under visible light

Abstract

Photocatalysts consisting of porphyrin and graphene have been designed and applied to reduce CO2 to C2H2 under visible light, which is an excellent simulator of natural photosynthesis.

Graphene‐Based Photocatalysts for Solar‐Fuel Generation

“…Reviews exclusive formation of formic acid from CO 2 originates from the presence of highly efficient visible-light-harvesting BODIPY molecule and the large potential difference of BODIPY molecule and graphene,w hich enables the generation of photoexcited electrons and the efficient transfer of the electrons.V ery recently,H an and co-workers [67] reported ac omposite photocatalyst consisting of graphene and porphyrin for the highly efficient conversion of CO 2 into CH 4 and C 2 H 2 under visible-light irradiation. However,f or such graphene-based biocatalysts,o ne clear drawback is that most of the organic molecules used in such catalysts are usually not stable under illumination in an aqueous dispersion because of the photoinduced intra-and intermolecular electron transfer in the organic molecules.I nt his regard, one of the most challenging tasks is the search for astable and highly efficient organic molecule catalyst in graphene-based biocatalyst systems.O verall, the above studies provide ap romising new direction to photocatalyst/biocatalyst coupled artificial photosynthesis systems using graphene-based materials.N evertheless,t he graphene-enhanced artificial photosynthesis process needed to be clarified and further exploited for solar fuels/chemicals production from CO 2 conversion.…”

Carbon-based two-dimensional layered materials for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction to solar fuels

“…Attributing to their 2D structure, graphene and g-C 3 N 4 are known as superior supports for photocatalysts because they can enlarge the specific surface area and provide plenty of surface reactive sites [51,52]. Therefore, the surface reaction of the CO 2 reduction can be easily carried out on such photocatalysts.…”

Electro- and Solar-Driven Fuel Synthesis with First Row Transition Metal Complexes

“…This hybrid system was applied in the reduction of CO 2 to acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) and CH 4 with rates of 113 and 57 μmol m –2 h –1 , respectively (calculated per surface area of the composite). 1054 Similarly, a cobalt protoporphyrin catalyst ( Co124 , Figure 65) was immobilized on pyrolytic graphite electrodes for electroreduction of CO 2 in aqueous media. Despite screening various different conditions, CO remained the main product, whereas CH 4 and CH 3 OH were obtained only as byproducts.…”