Use of an optofluidic microreactor and Cu nanoparticles synthesized in ionic liquid and embedded in TiO2 for an efficient photoreduction of CO2 to methanol

Porous TiO2 thin film-based photocatalytic windows for an enhanced operation of optofluidic microreactors in CO2 conversion

“…The optimal point is achieved for PPC-20 in which the production of methanol is as high as r = 0.52 μmol·h −1 ·cm −2 ( AQY = 2.84%) after 2 hr of UV illumination. It also worth mentioning that the production rate and efficiency are higher than the values achieved before over bare TiO 2 (P25) ( Albo et al., 2021 ), Cu/TiO 2 ( Albo et al., 2021 ) or Mo 2 C/TiO 2 ( Albo and García. 2021 ) in the same optofluidic microreactor illuminated with UV ( Table S3 in supplemental information ) but with a remarkably higher catalyst loading (2 mg·cm −2 ), which further denotes the benefits of the nanometric photocatalyst films developed (ca.…”

“…The photocatalytic windows were placed in the center of the reaction chamber of the PMMA plate, as represented in Figure 7 , and the reactor was operated in a one-compartment configuration. A full description of the experimental setup and reactor details can be found elsewhere ( Albo et al., 2021 ), while details on the reagent flux and chemical analysis are detailed in the experimental procedures section.

Figure 7 Reactor design for the photocatalytic CO 2 conversion (A and B) (A) Inner parts, and (B) images of the micro-optofluidic reactor.

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“…2021 ; Cheng et al., 2017a , 2017b , 2019 ; Chen et al., 2017 ). Moreover, the stability issue with longer periods of light irradiation is usually attributed to the reduction in the ability to absorb light due to particle detachment and the formation of intermediate un-desorbed products that block the active sites ( Albo et al., 2021 ). These drawbacks can be overcome by the use of a gauzy reactor vessels or windows whose inner wall is coated by a chemically and mechanically robust film of the photoactive material ( Shan et al., 2010 ; Dijkstra et al., 2001 ).…”

Shedding light on CO2: Catalytic synthesis of solar methanol

“…In particular, combining a wide bandgap semiconductor with a narrow bandgap semiconductor can effectively tailor the band structure of the composite to extend the absorption of the solar spectrum, thereby improving excitation efficiency and forming light‐induced charge carriers. In addition, the formation of heterojunction realizes light‐induced carrier migration on the interface, thereby preventing photogenerated electron‐hole pairs rapid recombination and improving the utilization efficiency in redox reactions 80‐82 …”

Recent Advances of Photocatalytic Hydrogenation of CO2 to Methanol

“…For an effective photocatalyst, the bandgap energy must be less than 3 eV to expand the light absorption in the visible area and use solar power efficiently. To date, a variety of photocatalysts including P-and F-co-doped carbon nitride (PFCN) [15], RuSA-mC 3 N 4 [16], Cu-ZIF [17,18], single Cu 2 O particle [19,20], g-C 3 N 4 -TiO 2 [21], (Pd/Pt)SA/g-C 3 N 4 [22], O-doped g-C 3 N 4 (OCN-Tube) [23], Cu-TiO 2 [24], Ni-nanocluster loaded on TiO 2 (Ni/TiO 2 [Vo] ) [25], aerogel flow-reactor [26], porous-g-C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 -nanotube [27][28][29], carbon-doped TiO 2 [30][31][32], RGO-NH 2 -MIL-125(Ti) [33], Cu porphyrin-based MOF [34], Zn 2 GeO 4 /ZIF-8 nanocomposite [35,36], TZTZ-TA-CMP [37], graphene quantum dots [38] and In 2 O 3 -CuO [39] have been reported for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction to valuable chemicals. Figure 1 indicates that the interest of researchers is continuously growing in the field of "Photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to methanol".…”