Synthesis of Z scheme a Fe2O3/g C3N4 composite with enhanced visible light photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CH3OH
Abstract In this study, a series of a Fe2O3/g C3N4(FCN) photocatalysts for CO2 reduction at 0.6 MPa to produce CH3OH is synthesized via hydrothermal method and the FCN hybrid shows greater absorption of visible light than pure g C3N4 due to the introduction of a Fe2O3 (narrow bandgap) The Z scheme heterojunction promotes photogenerated electron and hole separation and suppresses the recombination of photoexcited electron hole pairs. Benefiting from this unique structure, the optimized FCN(40:60) hybrid shows a CH3OH evolution rate of 5.63 mmol g 1 h 1 without any sacrifice reagent and cocatalyst, which is 2.9 times higher than that of pure g C3N4(1.94 mmol g 1 h 1) The excellent activity is ascribed to a Z scheme transfer mechanism, which is proposed according to the band structure between g C3N4 and a Fe2O3. The results gained here may provide some illuminating insights for the design of new types of Z scheme photocatalysts.
Journal of CO2 Utilization