Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction over Cotton-like Blue C/TiO₂ Nanotubes: Enhanced Performance via Structural Engineering

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Chemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) is crucial for addressing the energy crisis and greenhouse effect.
• Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a common photocatalyst but suffers from a wide band gap, high carrier recombination, and poor CO2 adsorption.
• These limitations hinder the efficiency of TiO2 in CO2 reduction applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel cotton-like blue C/TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) for enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction.
• To investigate the structural and performance improvements of the synthesized material.
• To provide insights into designing advanced TiO2-based photocatalysts.

Main Methods:

• In situ growth of TiO2 nanotubes on a MIL-125(Ti)-derived C/TiO2 precursor.
• Synthesis of cotton-like blue C/TiO2 NTs.
• Evaluation of photocatalytic activity by measuring CO production rates.

Main Results:

• The cotton-like blue C/TiO2 NTs demonstrated significantly higher CO production rates compared to C/TiO2 and pure TiO2 nanotubes.
• The enhanced performance is attributed to a broad spectral response, large specific surface area, and abundant oxygen vacancies.
• The CO production rate of C/TiO2 NTs was 1.84 times that of C/TiO2 and 3.78 times that of TiO2 nanotubes.

Conclusions:

• Cotton-like blue C/TiO2 NTs represent a highly effective photocatalyst for CO2 reduction.
• The developed synthesis strategy offers a promising pathway for improving TiO2-based photocatalytic materials.
• This research contributes to advancing sustainable energy solutions and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.