Worm-like FeS2/TiO2 nanotubes for photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol under visible light

Authors

Ershuan Han
Fengyun Hu
Shuai Zhang
Bo Luan
Peiqiang Li
Hongqi Sun, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Shaobin Wang

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Energy and Fuels

Publisher

American Chemical Society

School

School of Engineering

RAS ID

28289

Comments

Han, E., Hu, F., Zhang, S., Luan, B., Li, P., Sun, H., & Wang, S. (2018). Worm-like FeS2/TiO2 nanotubes for photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol under visible light. Energy & Fuels, 32(4), 4357-4363. doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b03234

Available here.

Abstract

Photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) reduction of CO₂ to hydrocarbons provides a great technique for CO₂ utilization, renewable energy transformation, and storage. Iron disulfide (FeS₂), as an earth-abundant and nontoxic semiconductor, has narrow band gap energy, high photovoltaic conversion efficiency, and light absorption, making it very promising as a photoelectrode in a PEC cell. Herein, novel worm-like FeS₂/TiO₂ nanotubes (NTs) was prepared by introducing FeS₂ on TiO₂ NTs and exhibited excellent PEC performance for CO₂ reduction to methanol. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) showed that worm-like FeS₂ was densely packed on the TiO₂ NT substrate. By introduction of FeS₂ on TiO₂ NTs, the visible light absorption was improved greatly and the energy band gap energy was narrowed to 1.70 eV, which significantly enhanced the photocatalytic performance under visible light. Furthermore, the resistance was reduced with increasing electrocatalytic ability. The major product of PEC reduction of CO₂ was methanol, reaching 91.7 μmol h^–1 L^–1.

DOI

10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b03234

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