High-efficiency and sustainable photoelectric conversion of CO2 to methanol over CuxO/TNTs catalyst by pulse potential method

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Herein, we report a special pulse potential method to increase methanol production and keep the CuxO/TiO2 nanotube array (TNT) catalyst active during...     

Morphology effect of ZnO support on the performance of Cu toward methanol production from CO2 hydrogenation

Recently, the chemical conversion of the greenhouse gas CO₂ into value-added methanol has been of great interest. To address this issue, ZnO nanorods were synthesized by a facile microwave assisted technique and selected as support in Cu/ZnO catalyst. Herein, structure-activity relationship of the as-prepared catalysts in CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol were elucidated in detail using different characterization technique including N₂ physisorption, XRD, TPR, TEM, XPS and insitu DRIFTS (CO chemisorption) etc. Interestingly, rodlike ZnO hosted the highly dispersed Cu species, stronger Cu-support interaction at the interface in comparison with another reference CuZn-C sample, which was supported on commercial ZnO. In particular, EPR and XPS analysis evidenced the direct electron transfer from ZnO support to Cu species in CuZn-R, thereby facilitating the formation of O vacancies. These positive factors could provide the extremely active sites for CO₂ hydrogenation and be correlated to the better catalytic activity. Indeed, the calculated TOF_methanol for CuZn-R was approximately ten times larger than that of CuZn-C sample. The results implied that the morphology structure of ZnO support, which could induce various crystal planes and amounts of defects and/or imperfections, possessed a critical role on the catalytic performance. This finding might shed light on the design of efficient catalysts for catalytic conversion of the undesirable CO₂.     

Photocatalytic Oxidation of CO on TiO2: Chemisorption of O2, CO,and H2

On the surface : Adsorption of O₂ at the surface oxygen vacancy (SOV) sites of TiO₂ reconstructs the lattice oxygen (healing SOVs), resulting in a decrease of the photocatalytic activity of oxidizing CO over vacuum‐pretreated TiO₂ with increasing temperature (see scheme). Adsorption of H₂ produces new SOVs at the TiO₂ surface and stabilizes the photocatalytic activity.

     

H2 production with low CO selectivity from photocatalytic reforming of glucose on metal/TiO2 catalysts

H₂ with low CO concentration is produced via photocatalytic reforming of glucose (as a representative of biomass component) on metal/TiO₂ catalyst (metals: Pt, Rh, Ru, Ir, Au, Ni, Cu). It is shown that the loaded metals generally enhance the rate of H₂ production, while they depress the CO selectivity. Both H₂ production and CO selectivity are strongly dependent on the kind of deposited metals on TiO₂. For example, Rh/TiO₂ catalyst is found to be most active for H₂ production while with the most extremely low CO concentration from the photocatalytic reforming of glucose.     

超细CuO/ZnO/TiO2-SiO2的表征和CO2加氢合成甲醇性能研究

用溶胶-凝胶法制备了铜、锌质量分数不同的超细Cu/ZnO/TiO2-SiO2催化剂。通过BET、TPR、XRD及FT-IR等方法对催化剂前驱体CuO/ZnO/TiO2-SiO2的物化性能进行表征。用固定床连续流动微反装置，考察催化剂CO2加氢合成甲醇的催化性能。研究结果表明，溶胶-凝胶法制备的CuO/ZnO/TiO2-SiO2催化剂比表面较大（240 m2/g～590 m2/g），孔径分布单一，晶相组成为CuO。随着铜、锌质量分数的增大，催化剂的比表面积减小，最可几孔径增大; CuO微晶结晶度增大,同时微晶尺寸逐渐增大至20 nm。催化剂具有较高的反应活性和选择性，当氧化铜、氧化锌质量分数各为25%时，在260 ℃，2 500 h－1，CO2∶H2=1∶3（mol比），2.0 MPa的反应条件下，甲醇时空收率为0.126g/(h·g)。     

New process of low-temperature methanol synthesis from CO/CO_2/H_2 based on dual-catalysis

A new process of low-temperature methanol synthesis from CO/CO2/H2 based on dual-catalysis has been developed. Some alcohols, especially 2-alcohol, were found to have high catalytic promoting effect on the synthesis of methanol from CO hydrogenation. At 443 K and 5 MPa, the synthesis of methanol could process high effectively, resulting from the synergic catalysis of Cu/ZnO solid catalyst and 2-alcohol solvent catalyst. The primary results showed that when 2-butanol was used as reaction solvent, the one-pass average yield and the selectivity of methanol, in 40 h continuous reaction at temperature as low as 443 K and 5 MPa, were high up to 46.51% and 98.94% respectively. The catalytic activity was stable and the reaction temperature was 80 K or so lower than that in current industry synthesis process. This new process hopefully will become a practical method for methanol synthesis at low temperature.     

S-nitrosocysteine-decorated PbS QDs/TiO2 nanotubes for enhanced production of singlet oxygen

Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenous diatomic molecule important in regulation of numerous physiological functions. The photorelease of NO in a controlled manner can potentially be used in photodynamic therapy (PDT). We present here a method to combine S-nitrosocysteine with TiO(2) nanotube-doped PbS quantum dots (PbS QDs) as a nitric oxide-releasing vehicle to promote production of singlet oxygen. The PbS QDs with a diameter ～3.6 nm (PbS/TNTs) were attached to the TiO(2) nanotube by using a thiolactic acid linker. S-nitrosocysteine-decorated PbS/TiO(2) nanotubes were prepared by dipping PbS/TNTs in a cysteine solution followed by nitrosylation. The results suggest that this hybrid nanomaterial is capable of photoreleasing nitric oxide and producing singlet oxygen using near-IR light.     

A review on TiO2 nanotubes: synthesis strategies,modifications, and applications

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - In the field of nanotechnology, titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) are one of the most valued inventions. They were discovered in 1996, and have since...     

Fabrication of PbS nanocrystal-sensitized ultrafine TiO2 nanotubes for efficient and unusual broadband-light-driven hydrogen production

It is highly desired to maximize the use of solar light by developing broadband-light-responsive H₂ production system in the field of photocatalysis. Herein, a novel PbS/(Pt–TiO₂) nanocomposite with efficient and unusual broadband-light-driven H₂ production feature is constructed by using infrared-bandgap PbS nanocrystals as sensitizer of Pt-loaded ultrafine anatase TiO₂ nanotubes (Pt–TiO₂). After optimizing the component ratio, the resultant PbS/(Pt–TiO₂) nanocomposite delivers a H₂ production activity of 813 and 186 μmol h^?1 under ultraviolet (UV)-visible (Vis)-near-infrared (NIR) and Vis-NIR light irradiation, respectively. Moreover, an apparent quantum yield of 38.6%, 26.2%, 2.43%, 3.21%, 2.17%, 0.36%, 0.11% and 0.01% can be attained from the PbS/(Pt–TiO₂) nanocomposite illuminated at 350, 420, 550, 700, 760, 850, 950 and 1064 nm monochromatic light, respectively. The intimate interfacial contacts in the PbS nanocrystals decorated ultrafine TiO₂ nanotubes, which serve as the support and electron acceptor of PbS nanocrystals, can effectively promote the photoexcited hot electrons transferring from PbS nanocrystals to TiO₂ nanotubes before the thermalization losses, and thus causing the efficient Vis-NIR-light-responsive H₂ production activity of the PbS/(Pt–TiO₂) nanocomposite. These results provide an intriguing application of infrared-bandgap materials to exploit the low-energy photons of the solar light for constructing efficient and unusual broadband-responsive H₂ production system.     

二氧化钛纳米管的制备与光催化活性

用阳极氧化法,室温条件下在含NH4F和H2O的电解液(丙三醇+NH4F+H2O;乙二醇+NH4F+H2O)中制备了TiO2纳米管阵列。用环境扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)表征二氧化钛纳米管阵列的微观形貌和物相结构。在丙三醇电解液中,电压为60 V,65 V,70 V,75 V制备的纳米管直径依次为160、170、190、220 nm。对甲基橙(10 mg/L)降解测试TiO2纳米管阵列的光催化性能。研究结果表明:在100 V阳极电压制备经过500℃退火处理后的TiO2纳米管阵列的光催化效果最好,其光催化降解率在光照时间120 min时达到89.2%。     

R&D activities in Japan on methanol synthesis from CO2 and H2

Methanol synthesis from CO₂ and H₂ can be a useful process for conversion and transportation of hydrogen energy derived from non-fossil energies. More than ten research groups in Japan have extensively investigated the methanol synthesis from both academic and practical points of view. Recent R&D activities in Japan for developing high performance catalysts, for elucidating the reaction mechanism and also for operating a bench scale plant have been reviewed in this paper.     

X-ray induced photocatalysis on TiO2 and TiO2 nanotubes: Degradation of organics and drug release

The photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide under X-ray radiation is of great interest for biomedical applications. In the present work we explore the use of compact TiO₂ layers and TiO₂ nanotubes for X-ray induced photocatalysis, in particular the degradation of organics and monolayer chain scission for drug release. The radiation was done with a conventional X-ray source and doses up to 50 × 10^?3 J/kg. The results show the feasibility of X-ray catalysis on TiO₂ and X-ray induced monolayer chain scission by the release of surface attached Zn–porphyrin molecules. Furthermore, a higher efficiency for anatase films and nanotubes is obtained than for amorphous morphologies.     

Formation of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes

Anatase TiO2 nanoparticles with a size range of 2 to 10 nm have been formed on carbon nanotubes by the controlled hydrolysis and condensation of titanium bis-ammonium lactato dihydroxide in water and electrosterically dispersed carbon nanotubes.     

TiO2光催化还原CO2

光催化还原CO₂技术在CO₂的治理与利用方面有着潜在的应用价值和良好的开发前景。该文简要综述了近年来用于光催化还原CO₂反应的TiO₂光催化剂材料,包括纯TiO₂催化剂、负载型TiO₂催化剂、金属改性TiO₂催化剂、半导体复合TiO₂催化剂和有机光敏化TiO₂催化剂等,并介绍了各类催化剂光催化还原CO₂的反应性能。     

Relevance of electronic effects on the yield of CO2 from methanol oxidation

The yields of products of methanol oxidation (HCHO, HCOOH, and CO(2)) were studied for carbon-supported PtRu nanoparticles having different amounts of alloyed and oxide phases. It is demonstrated that the increase in the Pt 5d-band vacancy enhances the production of CO(2), which is not directly related with the catalytic activity for CO oxidation. Results prove the relevant role of oxides and, at the same time, shed some new light on mechanistic aspects of methanol oxidation on PtRu nanocatalysts. It is also demonstrated that extrapolating from the behavior of smooth surfaces to nanoparticle systems is not always valid.     

TiO2和ZnO表面CO光催化氧化活性研究

在TiO2和ZnO表面CO光催化氧化研究中发现,365 nm紫外光照下TiO2表面无活性,而ZnO表面却有明显的CO光催化氧化活性.研究表明,主要是由于紫外光照下,ZnO光分解而TiO2没有光分解,从而在表面产生不同吸附形态的氧所致.而且,ZnO表面CO光催化氧化反应活性可在27 h内保持稳定,暗示气相光催化反应中,ZnO不会因为光腐蚀而使其催化活性降低.     

Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 on TiO2 and Other Semiconductors

Rising atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves raise serious concerns about the ensuing effects on the global climate and future energy supply. Utilizing the abundant solar energy to convert CO₂ into fuels such as methane or methanol could address both problems simultaneously as well as provide a convenient means of energy storage. In this Review, current approaches for the heterogeneous photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ on TiO₂ and other metal oxide, oxynitride, sulfide, and phosphide semiconductors are presented. Research in this field is focused primarily on the development of novel nanostructured photocatalytic materials and on the investigation of the mechanism of the process, from light absorption through charge separation and transport to CO₂ reduction pathways. The measures used to quantify the efficiency of the process are also discussed in detail.