Single Atom (Pd/Pt) Supported on Graphitic Carbon Nitride as an Efficient Photocatalyst for Visible-Light Reduction of Carbon Dioxide
2016
Gao, Guoping | Jiao, Yan | Waclawik, Eric R. | Du, Aijun
Reducing carbon dioxide to hydrocarbon fuel with solar energy is significant for high-density solar energy storage and carbon balance. In this work, single atoms of palladium and platinum supported on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), i.e., Pd/g-C₃N₄ and Pt/g-C₃N₄, respectively, acting as photocatalysts for CO₂ reduction were investigated by density functional theory calculations for the first time. During CO₂ reduction, the individual metal atoms function as the active sites, while g-C₃N₄ provides the source of hydrogen (H*) from the hydrogen evolution reaction. The complete, as-designed photocatalysts exhibit excellent activity in CO₂ reduction. HCOOH is the preferred product of CO₂ reduction on the Pd/g-C₃N₄ catalyst with a rate-determining barrier of 0.66 eV, while the Pt/g-C₃N₄ catalyst prefers to reduce CO₂ to CH₄ with a rate-determining barrier of 1.16 eV. In addition, deposition of atom catalysts on g-C₃N₄ significantly enhances the visible-light absorption, rendering them ideal for visible-light reduction of CO₂. Our findings open a new avenue of CO₂ reduction for renewable energy supply.
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