Highly Efficient Photothermal Reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> on Pd<sub>2</sub>Cu Dispersed TiO<sub>2</sub> Photocatalyst and Operando DRIFT Spectroscopic Analysis of Reactive Intermediates
Munirathinam Elavarasan,
Willie Yang,
Sethupathi Velmurugan,
Jyy-Ning Chen,
Thomas C.-K. Yang,
Toshiyuki Yokoi
Affiliations
Munirathinam Elavarasan
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Willie Yang
Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama 226-8503, Japan
Sethupathi Velmurugan
Precision Analysis and Material Research Center, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Jyy-Ning Chen
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Thomas C.-K. Yang
Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Toshiyuki Yokoi
Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama 226-8503, Japan
The photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to fuels using solar energy presents meaningful potential in the mitigation of global warming, solar energy conversion, and fuel production. Photothermal catalysis is one promising approach to convert chemically inert CO2 into value-added chemicals. Herein, we report the selective hydrogenation of CO2 to ethanol by Pd2Cu alloy dispersed TiO2 (P25) photocatalyst. Under UV-Vis irradiation, the Pd2Cu/P25 showed an efficient CO2 reduction photothermally at 150 °C with an ethanol production rate of 4.1 mmol g−1 h−1. Operando diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) absorption studies were used to trace the reactive intermediates involved in CO2 hydrogenation in detail. Overall, the Cu provides the active sites for CO2 adsorption and Pd involves the oxidation of H2 molecule generated from P25 and C–C bond formation.
