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Updated: Jul 25, 2025

CO2 Photoreduction to CH4 Performance Under Concentrating Solar Light
Published on: June 12, 2019
Integrating Enrichment, Reduction, and Oxidation Sites in One System for Artificial Photosynthetic Diluted CO2
Yan Yang1,2, Hong-Yu Zhang1,2, Ya Wang1
1Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of CO2 Resource Utilization and Energy Catalytic Materials, School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, No. 52, Xuefu Road, Harbin, 150040, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Artificial photosynthetic diluted CO2 reduction directly driven by natural sunlight is a challenging, but promising way to realize carbon-resources recycling utilization. Herein, a three-in-one photocatalytic system of CO2 enrichment, CO2 reduction and H2 O oxidation sites is designed for diluted CO2 reduction. A Zn-Salen-based covalent organic framework (Zn-S-COF) with oxidation and reductive sites is synthesized; then, ionic liquids (ILs) are loaded into the pores. As a result, [Emim]BF4 @Zn-S-COF shows a visible-light-driven CO2 -to-CO conversion rate of 105.88 µmol g-1 h-1 under diluted CO2 (15%) atmosphere, even superior than most photocatalysts in high concentrations CO2 . Moreover, natural sunlight driven diluted CO2 reduction rate also reaches 126.51 µmol g-1 in 5 h. Further experiments and theoretical calculations reveal that the triazine ring in the Zn-S-COF promotes the activity of H2 O oxidation and CO2 reduction sites, and the loaded ILs provide an enriched CO2 atmosphere, realizing the efficient photocatalytic activity in diluted CO2 reduction.
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