Photocatalytic CO2 reduction is a potential technique for converting solar energy and greenhouse gases into value-added chemicals. However, the main obstacles are limited light absorption and poor charge separation of electron-hole pairs. Here, we have developed a highly stable, phase-controlled heterostructured photocatalyst of molybdenum sulfide with reduced titania (1T/2H-MoS2@RT) for CO2 reduction into CO. The optimized 1T/2H-MoS2@RT produced 1480.1 ppm g−1 h−1 of CO. The catalyst showed ∼5 and ∼19 times higher activity than RT and MoS2, respectively, and excellent stability over 48 h (8 cycles). Our investigation revealed that combining MoS2 with RT synergizes the selective conversion of CO2 to CO. MoS2 acts as a visible light sensitizer and electron transport bridge; however, RT extracts electrons from MoS2 because of its lower energy potential. Improved light absorption, CO2 adsorption, and rapid electron-hole separation are responsible for the increased catalytic activity and stability.
Research Interests
CO2 conversion to hydrocarbon fuels; Water splitting for hydrogen generation; Quantum dot devices; Dye sensitized solar cells; Environmental remediation; Synthesis of functional nanomaterials; CO2 연료전환; 수소생산을 위한 광전기화학적 물분해; 양자점 태양전지; 염료감응 태양전지; 공해물질 저감연구; 기능성 나노소재 개발