A photocatalyst for reducing CO2 to CH4 – Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into a fuel is an attractive way to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, and there are many projects underway around the world to find ways of converting CO2 into chemicals – Photocatalyst reducing CO2 CH4 - Arhive

Photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ into a fuel is an attractive way to reduce CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere, and there are many projects underway around the world to find ways of converting CO₂ into chemicals, such as H₂, CH₄, ethanol, methanol and butanol.

However, in order to utilize CO₂ as a resource, it is essential to improve the light-absorption efficiency and the CO₂-conversion efficiency, and to ensure that the photocatalyst helps prevent the production of secondary harmful substances. Although a number of active photocatalysts have been reported, they suffer from low product yield, instability and low quantum efficiency.

Now a team from the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST, Daegu, South Korea; https://en.dgist.ac.kr), led by professor Su-Il In, has succeeded in developing a TiO₂-based high-efficiency photocatalyst that converts CO₂ to CH₄ by means of a simple reduction reaction. The catalyst is made by treating TiO₂ with a strong reducing agent — sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) — at 350°C for half an hour.

Sensitized with Pt nanoparticles, the material promotes solar spectrum photoconversion of CO₂ to CH₄ with an apparent quantum yield of 12.40% and a time-normalized CH₄ -generation rate of 80.35 µmol/g^.h. Professor In says to the best of his knowledge this is a record for photocatalytic-based CO₂ reduction. He plans to further improve the CO₂-conversion efficiency with a view to commercialization.

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