A Z-scheme Cu2O/WO3 heterojunction for production of renewable hydrocarbon fuel from carbon dioxide

Solid-State Synthesis of Direct Z-Scheme Cu2O/WO3 Nanocomposites with Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance

“…While a relatively common range of WO 3 values can be found, the data available for Cu 2 O shows large variability. The data for WO 3 vary from 2.7 eV to 2.9 eV for E g(WO3) , from 0.15 eV to 0.64 eV for E CB(WO3) , and from 2.90 eV to 3.54 eV for E VB(WO3) in references [16,21,26,27]. The data for Cu 2 O vary from 1.92 eV to 2.2 eV for E g(Cu2O) , from −1.12 eV to −0.28 eV for E CB(Cu2O) , and from 0.89 eV to 1.92 eV for E VB(Cu2O) in the same references.…”

“…The performance of the system for water oxidation was improved by facet selective photodeposition of platinum as a noble metal co-catalyst [12]. Concurrently, the viability of CO 2 photoreduction into hydrocarbons was published for Z-scheme Cu 2 O/WO 3 heterojunction obtained by a hydrothermal co-precipitation route [21].…”

“…Among many of the above-mentioned possible combinations, the Z-scheme based on Cu 2 O/WO 3 composite represents an attractive option due to a reasonable difference in CB energy position of WO 3 and Cu 2 O, which should prevent the transfer of the excited electrons from CB of Cu 2 O into the CB of WO 3 . Simultaneously, the CB of WO 3 and VB of Cu 2 O do not differ much in energy levels from each other; therefore, the excited electrons from CB of WO 3 would easily combine with the holes from the VB of Cu 2 O, thus completing the Z-scheme mechanism [21]. For WO 3 -based photocatalysts, several previous studies have shown that WO 3 itself is not a suitable photocatalyst while Cu 2 O suffers from photocorrosion since its redox potential is located within its bandgap, making self-redox reactions inevitable [22].…”

Core–shell Cu@Cu2O nanoparticles embedded in 3D honeycomb-like N-doped graphitic carbon for photocatalytic CO2 reduction

“…16 One needs to nd an effective strategy to enhance the conductivity and stability of Cu 2 O to improve its photocatalytic CO 2 RR performance. In recent years, scientists have developed many methods to improve the photocatalytic performance of catalysts, such as defect engineering, 17,18 structural modication, 19 doping engineering, 20,21 and heterojunction construction. 22 The combination of Cu 2 O and other semiconductors to form a heterostructure is one of the effective ways to improve its catalytic performance.…”

Cu Nanoparticles Modified Step-Scheme Cu2O/WO3 Heterojunction Nanoflakes for Visible-Light-Driven Conversion of CO2 to CH4

“…An effective way to address these issues may be coupling Cu 2 O and WO 3 to construct a heterostructured system with a step-scheme (S-scheme) charge transportation mode. S-scheme systems consisting of monoclinic or orthorhombic WO 3 and Cu 2 O were constructed for organic degradation, CO 2 reduction or photoelectrocatalytic water splitting [31][32][33]. To our best knowledge, there are few studies regarding hexagonal phase WO 3 nanoflakes and Cu 2 O for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction under visible light irradiation.…”