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Nanoengineering Construction of Cu2O Nanowire Arrays Encapsulated with g‑C3N4 as 3D Spatial Reticulation All-Solid-State Direct Z‑Scheme Photocatalysts for Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide
journal contribution
posted on 2020-05-21, 17:36 authored by Xin Zhao, Yingying Fan, Wensheng Zhang, Xiaojing Zhang, Dongxue Han, Li Niu, Ari IvaskaArtificial photosynthesis
is a promising strategy to convert carbon dioxide into value-added
fuels and chemicals with efficient sunlight utilization. Nevertheless,
there are many shortcomings, such as high photogenerated electron–hole
recombination rate and poor light stability, that hinder the further
development of artificial photosynthesis. Thus, inspired by the natural
photosynthesis of green plants, a 3D spatial reticulation all-solid-state
artificial direct Z-scheme photocatalyst is manufactured to solve
the above problems by using a graphite phase carbon nitride (g-C3N4) shell encapsulating Cu2O nanowire
arrays/Cu mesh (g-C3N4/Cu2O NAs/CM).
Consequently, the CH3OH formation rate and the selectivity
of g-C3N4/Cu2O NAs reached 22.6 ppm
cm–2 h–1 and 94.9% under solar
light irradiation, respectively. More importantly, the material retained
94.7% of its primary catalytic activity after 60 h test (ten reaction
cycles). It is attributed to the protective g-C3N4 layer and the synergetic effect between interface carrier separation
modulation and relatively short radial transmission channel design.
This strategy provides unique insights into the design and preparation
of efficient practical photocatalysts for energy synthesis.