Visible-light-driven CO₂ photoreduction over atomically strained indium sites in ambient air

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Strain engineering is a key strategy for enhancing heterogeneous catalyst performance.
• Layered indium sulfide (In2S3) is a promising material for photocatalysis.
• Improving CO2 photoreduction efficiency is crucial for environmental remediation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create atomic-scale strain in In2S3 using a wet-chemistry method.
• To investigate the effect of strain on CO2 photoreduction performance.
• To elucidate the mechanism behind the enhanced catalytic activity.

Main Methods:

• Wet-chemistry synthesis of strained In2S3.
• Characterization using in-situ spectroscopic measurements.
• Theoretical calculations to understand structural and electronic properties.

Main Results:

• Successfully introduced atomic-scale strain in In2S3 via oxygen coordination and sulfur vacancy.
• Achieved a CO2 to CO conversion rate of 5.16 μmol g-1 h-1 under visible light.
• Demonstrated enhanced CO2 adsorption/activation and charge carrier separation.

Conclusions:

• Atomically strained In2S3 exhibits superior CO2 photoreduction performance.
• Lattice disorder and structural distortion induced by strain are responsible for enhanced activity.
• This work presents a novel approach for designing strained photocatalysts for CO2 reduction.