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Development of new photocatalysts for CO2 fixation

If useful compounds can be obtained by reducing carbon dioxide, it would be a two birds with one stone solution to environmental and resource problems. Therefore, we aim to develop photocatalysts and photoelectrodes that use water and carbon dioxide as raw materials to produce solar fuels and organic compounds using sunlight. This reaction is truly artificial photosynthesis, a topic of great academic and social importance, and is being actively studied around the world. Our laboratory has found that the photocatalysts with a large band gap, such as Ba- and Sr-doped NaTaO3 and BaLa4Ti4O15 photocatalysts, which are highly active in water splitting, can efficiently produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide from water and CO2 under UV light irradiation when supported with Ag as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. We have found that Ag-supported photocatalysts can efficiently produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide from water and carbon dioxide under ultraviolet lig ht irradiation.

Fig. 1 Ag-loaded BaLa4Ti4O15
Fig. 2 Carbon dioxide reduction using Ag/NaTaO3:Ba

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3, we have found that the Z-scheme CO2 reduction reaction proceeds under visible light irradiation when metal sulfide is used as a photocatalyst for hydrogen generation and RGO/BiVO4 composite is used as a photocatalyst for oxygen generation. We have also found that the Z-scheme CO2 reduction reaction proceeds under visible light irradiation when SrTiO3:Rh is used as a photocatalyst for hydrogen production and BiVO4 as a photocatalyst for oxygen production.

Fig. 3 Water splitting using photoelectrodes

References

  1. H. Nakanishi, K. Iizuka, T. Takayama, A. Iwase, A. Kudo, ChemSusChem 2017, 10, 112.
  2. K. Iizuka, T. Wato, Y. Miseki, K. Saito, A. Kudo, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 20863.
  3. T. Takayama, K. Tanabe, K. Saito, A. Iwase, A. Kudo, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16. 24417.
  4. T. Takayama, A. Iwase, A. Kudo, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 2015, 88, 538.
  5. A. Iwase, S. Yoshino, T. Takayama, Y. H. Ng, R. Amal, A. Kudo, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 10260.
  6. S. Yoshino, K. Sato, Y. Yamaguchi, A. Iwase, A. Kudo, ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 2020, 3, 10001.
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