On the Selectivity of Simultaneous CO₂ and N₂ Reduction Using TiO₂/Carbon Sphere Photocatalysts Prepared by Microwave Treatment and Mounted on Silica Cloth

Abstract

This paper presents new photocatalysts obtained by treating carbon spheres (CS) and TiO2 in a microwave reactor at a pressure of 20 atm and a temperature of up to 300 °C for 15 min and then depositing TiO2/CS composites on glass fibre cloths. Such highly CO2-adsorbing photocatalysts showed photoactivity in the simultaneous water-splitting process, generating H2, reducing CO2 to CO and CH4, and reducing N2 to NH3. In addition, calculations of the hydrogen balance involved in all reactions were performed. Adding 1 g of carbon spheres per 1 g of TiO2 maintained the high selectivity of nitrogen fixation at 95.87–99.5%, which was continuously removed from the gas phase into the water as NH4+ ions.

Keywords

• photocatalytic CO₂ reduction
• nitrogen fixation
• titanium dioxide
• carbon spheres
• microwave reactor