Photocatalytic conversion of carbon monoxide: from pollutant removal to fuel production

Thermo-photo catalysis: a whole greater than the sum of its parts

“…28,90 For charge-carrier-mediated catalysis involving either photo carriers or hot carriers, the efficient separation and transfer of charge carriers should be ensured. 63,141 This principle is opposite to that of thermal-energy-driven (photo-thermal) catalysis. In this case, only when charge carriers are effectively separated and transferred to catalyst surface to contact reactant molecules can the reaction take place.…”

“…98 Moreover, for multicomponent catalysts, energetically favourable band alignment and fast interfacial electron transfer are required. 125,141 For photo-thermal catalysis, efficient photo-to-thermal conversion and subsequent heat transfer are desired. After charge excitation by photons, the photon energy should be effectively converted into thermal energy via the recombination of charge carriers instead of being reflected or re-emitted radiatively.…”

“…Besides CO 2 and CH 4 , CO is also an important C1 molecule, whose conversion has been greatly enhanced by coupling thermal catalysis and photocatalysis. 141 Current applications of thermo-photo catalytic CO conversion range from CO oxidation by O 2 , 36,129,130 H 2 O, 35,299 or NO, [134][135][136] to Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. 34,37,38,300,301 Thermo-photo catalytic CO oxidation by O 2 is developed to treat low-concentration CO in buildings and in H 2 streams for fuel cells, while CO oxidation by NO to form non-toxic CO 2 and N 2 realizes the concurrent removal of two primary pollutants from vehicles and stationary power plants.…”

“…34,37,38,300,301 Thermo-photo catalytic CO oxidation by O 2 is developed to treat low-concentration CO in buildings and in H 2 streams for fuel cells, while CO oxidation by NO to form non-toxic CO 2 and N 2 realizes the concurrent removal of two primary pollutants from vehicles and stationary power plants. 141 Moreover, CO oxidation by H 2 O, which is also named water-gas shift reaction, provides a sustainable approach for simultaneous CO removal and H 2 production. 35,299 For instance, under focused sunlight irradiation, CuO x /Al 2 O 3 catalyst delivered an excellent thermo-photo catalytic activity with 95% CO conversion and 439 mmol h À1 g À1 H 2 production, owing to the synergetic photo-thermal catalysis and photocatalysis.…”

Confining Metal‐Organic Framework in the Pore of Covalent Organic Framework: A Microscale Z‐Scheme System for Boosting Photocatalytic Performance

“…Photocatalysis, as a light-driven chemical process to convert solar energy into usable or storable energy resources and decompose organic pollutants under solar-light irradiation, has been regarded as a promising strategy to deal with the ever-growing energy crisis and environmental pollution. [1][2][3][4] MOF (MOF/COF) was expected to construct a novel heterojunction with interwoven micro/nanopore networks and tunable optical and electrical properties. In 2018, Zhang and co-workers prepared the first example of using MOFs as the substrate for the growth of COFs, forming a core-shell structure (MOF@COF).…”