Outstanding CO<sub>2</sub> Photoreduction in Single‐Atom Thulium Modified Carbon Nitride
CO<sub>2</sub> reduction photocatalysts are favorable for obtaining renewable energy. Enriched active sites and effective photogenerated-carriers separation are keys for improving CO<sub>2</sub> photo-reduction. A thulium (Tm) single atom tailoring strategy introducing carbon vacancies in porous tubular graphitic carbon nitride (g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>) surpassing the ever-reported g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> based photocatalysts, with 199.47 µmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> CO yield, 96.8% CO selectivity, 0.84% apparent quantum efficiency and excellent photocatalytic stability, is implemented in this work. Results revealed that in-plane Tm sites and interlayer-bridged Tm-N charge transfer channels significantly enhanced the aggregation/transfer of photogenerated electrons thus promoting CO<sub>2</sub> adsorption/activation and contributing to *COOH intermediates formation. Meanwhile, Tm atoms and carbon vacancies both benefit for rich active sites and enhanced photogenerated-charge separation, thus optimizing reaction pathway and leading to excellent CO<sub>2</sub> photo-reduction. This work not only provides guidelines for CO<sub>2</sub> photo-reduction catalysts design but also offers mechanistic insights into single-atom based photocatalysts for solar fuel production.
Authors
- Zhigang Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2092-8335)
- Yong Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8872-2777)
- Junyang Yuan
- Cheng Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-3535)
- Haoqiang Chi
- Xinxin Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2823-5250)
- Yongcai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1551-754X)
- Yong Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9480-2586)
- Xinglong Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2787-3069)
- Xiaoyong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8338-9773)
- Liuqing Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0723-2977)
Institutions
- Nanjing Forestry University (CN)
- Nanjing University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Energy Research Institute (CN)
- Institute of Acoustics (CN)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN)
- Anhui Polytechnic University (CN)
- Yangzhou University (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2024-08-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202406329
- Citations
- 29
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.97
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province