Conversion of Biomasses and Copper into Catalysts for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction
1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Abstract:
The rapid increase of CO2 in the atmosphere has caused serious environmental problems. Burning of biomass wastes increases the content of CO2 in the environment. Herein, we propose a new strategy to convert biomass into photocatalysts for artificial CO2 reduction. Using a hydrothermal method, carbohydrates from biomass can be converted into hydrothermal carbonaceous carbon (HTCC). The HTCC consists of plenty of sp2-hybridized structures, which are capable of absorbing solar light for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Furthermore, with the addition of Cu cocatalysts, higher activity can be obtained for CO2 reduction. The activity of Cu-HTCC is 32 and 1.7 times higher than that of commercial TiO2 and pure HTCC, respectively. This method provides a new strategy of trash to treasure, which converts biomass waste into photocatalysts for CO2 reduction.
Related Concept Videos
01:46The Calvin Benson Cycle
01:28Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane: Catalytic Hydrogenation
02:17Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
00:46Bioremediation
02:50Catalysis
02:13Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...