Unique Dual-Sites Boosting Overall CO2 Photoconversion by Hierarchical Electron Harvesters.
Xingwang ZhuYitao CaoYanhua SongJinman YangXiaojie SheZhao MoYuanbin SheQing YuXianglin ZhuJunjie YuanHuaming LiHui XuPublished in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) (2021)
Low selectivity and poor activity of photocatalytic CO2 reduction process are usually limiting factors for its applicability. Herein, a hierarchical electron harvesting system is designed on CoNiP hollow nano-millefeuille (CoNiP NH), which enables the charge enrichment on CoNi dual active sites and selective conversion of CO2 to CH4 . The CoNiP serves as an electron harvester and photonic "black hole" accelerating the kinetics for CO2 -catalyzed reactions. Moreover, the dual sites form from highly stable CoONiC intermediates, which thermodynamically not only lower the reaction energy barrier but also transform the reaction pathways, thus enabling the highly selective generation of CH4 from CO2 . As an outcome, the CoNiP NH/black phosphorus with dual sites leads to a tremendously improved photocatalytic CH4 generation with a selectivity of 86.6% and an impressive activity of 38.7 µmol g-1 h-1 .