Coupled Photon Transport and Interfacial Charge Utilization in ACT/g-PAN for Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction

Area of Science:

• Catalysis
• Materials Science
• Photochemistry

Background:

• Solar-driven CO2 reduction is crucial for sustainable energy.
• Previous research focused on catalyst molecular design, neglecting macroscopic reaction engineering.
• A gap exists in understanding how reaction parameters affect photocatalytic systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate macroscopic parameters influencing Ag/Cu-TiO2/g-PAN photocatalyst performance.
• To explore the impact of catalyst dosage, light wavelength, and photothermal effects.
• To optimize slurry-based photocatalytic CO2 reduction systems.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated catalyst dosage and incident light wavelength effects.
• Assessed optical transmittance and kinetic stability of catalyst suspensions.
• Investigated plasmon-related photothermal effects on photocatalytic activity.

Main Results:

• Ag/Cu-TiO2/g-PAN showed a broadband photocatalytic response.
• Identified optimal conditions balancing light penetration and active sites.
• Plasmonic heating-induced temperature elevation negatively impacted CO2 adsorption and catalytic efficiency.

Conclusions:

• Macroscopic photophysical reaction engineering is vital for solar CO2 reduction.
• Catalyst suspension properties (transmittance, stability) are critical.
• Managing photothermal effects is essential for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction.