Selective CO2 reduction to HCOOH on a Pt/In2O3/g-C3N4 multifunctional visible-photocatalyst

Selective photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ has been regarded as one of the most amazing ways for re-using CO₂. However, its application is still limited by the low CO₂ conversion efficiency. This work developed a novel Pt/In₂O₃/g-C₃N₄ multifunctional catalyst, which exhibited high activity and selectivity to HCOOH during photocatalytic CO₂ reduction under visible light irradiation owing to the synergistic effect between photocatalyst, thermocatalyst, and heterojunctions. Both In₂O₃ and g-C₃N₄ acted as visible photocatalysts, in which porous g-C₃N₄ facilitated H₂ production from water splitting while the In₂O₃ nanosheets embedded in g-C₃N₄ pores favored CO₂ fixation and H adsorption onto the Lewis acid sites. Besides, the In₂O₃/g-C₃N₄ heterojunctions could efficiently inhibit the photoelectron–hole recombination, leading to enhanced quantum efficiency. The Pt could act as a co-catalyst in H₂ production from photocatalytic water splitting and also accelerated electron transfer to inhibit electron–hole recombination and generated a plasma effect. More importantly, the Pt could activate H atoms and CO₂ molecules toward the formation of HCOOH. At normal pressure and room temperature, the TON of HCOOH in CO₂ conversion was 63.1 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ and could reach up to 736.3 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ at 40 atm.

A multifunctional Pt/In₂O₃/g-C₃N₄ catalyst exhibited high activity and selectivity to HCOOH during CO₂ reduction owing to the synergy between visible-light harvesting, CO₂ activation, HER, and photoelectron–hole separation via heterojunctions.