High-efficiency synergistic conversion of CO₂ to methanol using Fe₂O₃ nanotubes modified with double-layer Cu₂O spheres

Abstract

Cuprous oxide/hematite nanotubes (Cu2O/Fe2O3NTs) were prepared by a potentiostatic electrodeposited method, in which different structured Cu2O materials were modified onto Fe2O3 NTs surface. Among them, the material with double-layer Cu2O spheres (Cu2O/Fe2O3 NTs-30) showed excellent photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) properties with a suitable energy band gap (1.96 eV) and a smaller overpotential (0.18 V). Furthermore, Cu2O/Fe2O3 NTs-30 showed two types of synergisms in the PEC reduction of CO2: (i) between electrocatalysis and photocatalysis and (ii) between Cu2O and Fe2O3NTs. The faradaic efficiency and methanol yield reached 93% and 4.94 mmol L(-1) cm(-2) after 6 h, respectively.

On the application of Ti/TiO 2 /CuO n-p junction semiconductor: A case study of electrolyte, temperature and potential influence on CO 2 reduction

“…Photoelectrocatalysis is a widely known methodology that has been developed capable of effectively combining the photocatalysis technique with bias potential in order to minimize the photogenerated electron-hole pairs recombination, promoting a fast electron transfer to CO 2 while at the same time maximizing the yield [11,[15][16][17][18]. All the results have shown that the electrode material has a significant influence on the CO 2 reduction performance and on the selectivity of the products generated.…”

Highly sensitive H2S sensors based on Cu2O/Co3O4 nano/microstructure heteroarrays at and below room temperature

“…2g. This result indicates that the Cu exists in a Cu + oxidation state23. The XPS spectra of Co peaks is presented in Fig.…”

Recent Progress on Photo‐Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

“…Although CuO nanorods are used to provide large surface areas and heterojunction for charge separation, the CuO‐Cu 2 O photocathode still shows a decline of photocurrent with the time prolonged. Interestingly, a p–n heterojunction composed of Fe 2 O 3 nanotubes (NTs) and Cu 2 O spheres exhibited excellent stability for CO 2 reduction . In particular, the Fe 2 O 3 NTs deposited with double layer of Cu 2 O spheres by a modified electrodeposition method ( Figure a–c) show excellent PEC performance with a smaller overpotential of 0.18 V for CO 2 reduction.…”

“…e) Faradaic efficiency of methanol on Cu 2 O/Fe 2 O 3 NTs‐30, Cu 2 O/Fe, and Fe 2 O 3 NTs in the PEC process. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2014, Royal Society of Chemistry.…”