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Ni‐Nanocluster Modified Black TiO 2 with Dual Active Sites for Selective Photocatalytic CO 2 Reduction
Author(s) -
Billo Tadesse,
Fu FangYu,
Raghunath Putikam,
Shown Indrajit,
Chen WeiFu,
Lien HsiangTing,
Shen TzuHsien,
Lee JyhFu,
Chan TingShan,
Huang KuoYou,
Wu ChihI,
Lin M. C.,
Hwang JihShang,
Lee ChihHao,
Chen LiChyong,
Chen KueiHsien
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201702928
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , nanoclusters , materials science , photochemistry , electron transfer , band gap , non blocking i/o , catalysis , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , engineering
One of the key challenges in artificial photosynthesis is to design a photocatalyst that can bind and activate the CO 2 molecule with the smallest possible activation energy and produce selective hydrocarbon products. In this contribution, a combined experimental and computational study on Ni‐nanocluster loaded black TiO 2 (Ni/TiO 2[Vo] ) with built‐in dual active sites for selective photocatalytic CO 2 conversion is reported. The findings reveal that the synergistic effects of deliberately induced Ni nanoclusters and oxygen vacancies provide (1) energetically stable CO 2 binding sites with the lowest activation energy (0.08 eV), (2) highly reactive sites, (3) a fast electron transfer pathway, and (4) enhanced light harvesting by lowering the bandgap. The Ni/TiO 2[Vo] photocatalyst has demonstrated highly selective and enhanced photocatalytic activity of more than 18 times higher solar fuel production than the commercial TiO 2 (P‐25). An insight into the mechanisms of interfacial charge transfer and product formation is explored.