Work

Highly Selective Photocatalytic CO 2 -to-CH 4 Conversion in Water Vapor via CeO 2 /Carbon Nitride Nanosheet Heterojunctions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Solar-driven CO 2 reforming in water vapor to produce high-value-added chemical fuels offers significant potential for renewable energy. Achieving this conversion under mild conditions can be efficiently realized through multielectron-coupled proton transfer (M-ECPT) photocatalysis. This work introduces CeO 2 /CNs-NKM, a composite synthesized by firmly anchoring highly dispersed cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) onto crystalline carbon nitride nanosheets (CNs-NKM). Experimental and theoretical studies confirm that this material possesses an optimized S-scheme heterojunction structure. This structure enables high efficiency in electron excitation, storage, and release, which critically promotes the highly selective M-ECPT conversion of CO 2 to CH 4 in water vapor. Consequently, the optimized CeO 2 /CNs-NKM catalyst achieves CO 2 reduction rates to CO and CH 4 of 6.58 and 14.91 μmol·g –1 ·h –1, respectively, with a calculated CH 4 selectivity of 90.06%. Computational simulations validate the proposed reaction pathway, providing insights into photocatalytic strategies for deep CO 2 reduction, akin to artificial photosynthesis.

Source: Artificial photosynthesis.

DOI: 10.1021/aps.5c00030