A photothermal MXene-derived heterojunction for boosted CO2 reduction and tunable CH4 selectivity

Yixiang Zhao; Zhen Wang; Weirui Chen; Xi Wang; Yiming Tang; Laisheng Li; Jing Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.12.108

A photothermal MXene-derived heterojunction for boosted CO₂ reduction and tunable CH₄ selectivity

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Dec 16;683(Pt 1):934-941. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.12.108. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yixiang Zhao¹, Zhen Wang¹, Weirui Chen², Xi Wang³, Yiming Tang³, Laisheng Li³, Jing Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ School of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Functional Materials for Environmental Protection, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁴ School of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Functional Materials for Environmental Protection, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: jing.wang@m.scnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39709768
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.12.108

Abstract

We report here a Bi₂WO₆/Ti₃C₂T_x@Ag (BT@Ag) photothermal photocatalyst for efficient CO₂ reduction with tunable CH₄ selectivity. Incorporation of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene creates well-defined heterointerfaces between Bi₂WO₆ and Ti₃C₂T_x and converts thermal energy upon light illumination via photothermal effect, which contributes to a mitigation of the recombination of photo-induced charge carries for a high electron mobility. Density functional theory calculations substantiate that Ti₃C₂T_x functions as the adsorption site and active center where the transferred electrons are effectively involved in CO₂ reduction for enhanced CH₄ selectivity. Moreover, the in situ deposited Ag nanoparticles demonstrate an exceptional surface plasmon resonance effect, giving rise to additional hot electrons that further benefits the CH₄ generation.

Keywords: CO(2) reduction; MXene; Photocatalysis; Photothermal conversion.