Highly efficient nanostructured metal-decorated hybrid semiconductors for solar conversion of CO2 with almost complete CO selectivity

Abstract

© 2019 Elsevier LtdPhotocatalytic reduction of CO2 into solar fuels is regarded as a promising method to address global warming and energy crisis problems. Although heterostructured hybrid metal oxide catalysts have been used for CO2 reduction, selective control for CO production-only remains the subject of debate. In this paper, we report an absolute selectivity for CO production-only with enhanced photocatalytic ability using Ag-decorated reduced titanium oxide/tungsten hybrid nanoparticles (blue TiO2/WO3–Ag HNPs) at 1166.72 μmol g−1 h−1 with an apparent quantum yield of 34.8%. The construction of a Z-scheme between blue TiO2 and WO3 domains with an excellent band alignment provided remarkably improved separation of photoinduced charges. Importantly, the presence of novel Ag not only produces the highest selectivity up to 100% CO production-only, but also increases the photocatalytic electron reaction rate (2333.44 μmol g−1 h−1)