Rationally designed transition metal hydroxide nanosheet arrays on graphene for artificial CO2 reduction

Abstract

The performance of transition metal hydroxides, as cocatalysts for CO2 photoreduction, is significantly limited by their inherent weaknesses of poor conductivity and stacked structure. Herein, we report the rational assembly of a series of transition metal hydroxides on graphene to act as a cocatalyst ensemble for efficient CO2 photoreduction. In particular, with the Ru-dye as visible light photosensitizer, hierarchical Ni(OH)2 nanosheet arrays-graphene (Ni(OH)2-GR) composites exhibit superior photoactivity and selectivity, which remarkably surpass other counterparts and most of analogous hybrid photocatalyst system. The origin of such superior performance of Ni(OH)2-GR is attributed to its appropriate synergy on the enhanced adsorption of CO2, increased active sites for CO2 reduction and improved charge carriers separation/transfer. This work is anticipated to spur rationally designing efficient earth-abundant transition metal hydroxides-based cocatalysts on graphene and other two-dimension platforms for artificial reduction of CO2 to solar chemicals and fuels.

Revealing the Sudden Alternation in Pt@h‐BN Nanoreactors for Nearly 100% CO2‐to‐CH4 Photoreduction

“…For the development of efficient photocatalysts, scientists have done a lot of meaningful work. [ 12–14 ] Jiang et al. [ 15 ] reported that by accurately anchoring TiO 2 in two different molecular compartments of MIL‐101, a quantum efficiency of up to 11.3% was achieved, proving that the precise positioning of TiO 2 in the metal‐organic framework (MOF) system can effectively improve the material performance.…”

“…For the development of efficient photocatalysts, scientists have done a lot of meaningful work. [12][13][14] Jiang et al [15] reported that by accurately anchoring TiO 2 in two different molecular compartments of MIL-101, a quantum efficiency of up to 11.3% was achieved, proving that the precise positioning of TiO 2 in the metal-organic framework (MOF) system can effectively improve the material performance. Li et al [16] reported that through a top-down direct metal atomization method to prepare single atoms and the use of CO species to adjust the coordination environment, a high turnover number of 1493.5 could be achieved in CO 2 photoreduction process.…”

Promises and Challenges in Photocatalysis

“…Nowadays, direct solar-to-fuel conversion through green photocatalysis technology has received increasing research interests due to its potential for solar energy utilization and storage to relieve the growing energy demands and greenhouse effect (Habisreutinger et al, 2013). With the expansion and deepening of the research, photocatalysis technology has been extended to many fields, such as energy, health, environment, pollution control and value-added chemicals synthesis (Lu et al, 2020). As a result, the relevance of photocatalysis and human life has been increasing steadily.…”

Miniaturization of transition metal hydroxides to hydroxide dots: A direction to realize giant cyclic stability and electrochemical performance

“…44 Lu et al prepared rationally designed nickel hydroxides nansheets array on graphene by utilizing hydrothermal treatment. 45 The primary disadvantages such as controlling the reaction parameters at high temperature, bulk production, and requirement of conducting substrate limited the application of supercapacitor in numerous fields.…”