High-Yield Synthesis of Ultralong and Ultrathin Zn₂GeO₄ Nanoribbons toward Improved Photocatalytic Reduction of CO₂ into Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuel

Abstract

Single-crystalline Zn(2)GeO(4) nanobelts with lengths of hundreds of micrometers, thicknesses as small as ∼7 nm, and aspect ratios of up to 10,000 were synthesized in a binary ethylenediamine/water solvent system using a solvothermal route. The ultralong and ultrathin geometry of the Zn(2)GeO(4) nanoribbon proves to greatly promote the photocatalytic activity toward reduction of CO(2) into renewable hydrocarbon fuel (CH(4)) in the presence of water vapor.

CO2 Reduction: From the Electrochemical to Photochemical Approach

“…Unfortunately, their higher conduction bands translate to further broadened band gaps. For example, two popular examples—Zn 2 Ga 2 O 4 and ZnGeO 4 have band gaps of 4.5 and 4.4 eV, respectively, making them only responsive to the deep UV light 133, 134…”

“…They showed strong light absorption from the visible to the near‐infrared region, and was able to reduce CO 2 to CH 4 in the absence of any cocatalyst at an impressive formation rate of 666 ppm g −1 h −1 . Zou and co‐workers prepared single‐crystalline Zn 2 GeO 4 nanobelts that was featured with thickness as small as ≈7 nm and aspect ratio up to 10 000 (Figure 12b,c) 134. Their high crystallinity and ultralong/ultrathin geometry configuration facilitated the migration and separation of photogenerated carriers and consequently resulted in an improved photocatalytic activity for reducing CO 2 to CH 4 .…”

“…b,c) SEM and TEM images of Zn 2 GeO 4 nanoribbons. Reproduced with permission 134. Copyright 2010, American Chemical Society.…”

In situ synthesis of ordered mesoporous Co-doped TiO2 and its enhanced photocatalytic activity and selectivity for the reduction of CO2

“…It is noteworthy that the photocatalytic performance shown in this study under visible light is significantly higher or comparable in comparison with the previously reported photocatalytic systems under visible light, even under UV-vis light (Table S2). 21,27,43,[62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] However, due to the different experimental conditions (such as light intensity, illumination area, photocatalysts dosage) in these photocatalytic systems, the direct comparison is not appropriate. Therefore, we also compared our materials with some typical semiconductors or composites (including N-doped TiO 2 , Au/TiO 2 , C 3 N 4 , WO 3 , P25) measured in the same reactor system.…”

Fundamental Study on the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol/Ethanol Using a Cyclic Fenton Reaction

“…Tominaga and co-workers reported the production of Cl containing compounds by CO 2 hydrogenation using [Ru3(CO12)]/KI mixtures as catalysts 6,7 . Several researchers have developed other catalysts for CO2 reduction 8,9 . Recently, Stephan and co-workers have developed the concept of "frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs)" [10][11][12] and have applied these to the room temperature reduction of CO2 to methanol.…”