Converting carbon dioxide photocatalytically into fuels using solar energy is an attractive route to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels. Photothermal CO2 catalysis is one approach to achieve this, but improved materials that can more efficiently harvest and use solar energy are needed.
To this end, the research groups of Prof. Xiaohong Zhang and Prof. Le He, in collaboration with Prof. Geoffrey A. Ozin at the University of Toronto, reported a supra-photothermal catalyst architecture—inspired by the greenhouse effect—that boosts the performance of a catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation compared to traditional photothermal catalyst designs. The catalyst consists of a nanoporous-silica-encapsulated nickel nanocrystal (Ni@p-SiO2), which is active for methanation and reverse water–gas shift reactions. Under illumination, the local temperatures achieved by Ni@p-SiO2 exceed those of Ni-based catalysts without the SiO2 shell. The heat insulation and infrared shielding effects of the SiO2 sheath confine the photothermal energy of the nickel core, enabling a supra-photothermal effect. Catalyst sintering and coking is also lessened in Ni@p-SiO2, which may be due to spatial confinement effects. This work provides more insight into the design principles of photothermal catalysts and represents a key step towards a sustainable solar fuels industry.
The co-first authors, Dr. Mujin Cai, Dr. Zhiyi Wu and Dr. Zhao Li, are from FUNSOM, Soochow University.
Author information：Mujin Cai, Zhiyi Wu, Zhao Li, Lu Wang, Wei Sun, Athanasios A. Tountas, Chaoran Li, Shenghua Wang, Kai Feng, Ao-Bo Xu, Sanli Tang, Alexandra Tavasoli, Meiwen Peng, Wenxuan Liu, Amr S. Helmy, Le He*, Geoffrey A. Ozin*, Xiaohong Zhang*
Link to paper：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00867-w
Acknowledgment：The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51920105005, 51802208, 21902113, 51821002, 91833303), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20200101), 111 project and the Collaborative Innovation Centre of Suzhou Nano Science & Technology.
Link to Prof. Zhang’s website: http://funsom.suda.edu.cn/7f/8d/c2735a32653/page.htm
Link to Prof. He’s website: http://funsom.suda.edu.cn/7f/a4/c2735a32676/page.htm
Editor: Danting Xiang