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Cited by 332Advanced Photocatalysis TechniquesCO2 Reduction Techniques and CatalystsCatalysts for Methane Reforming

Molecular-level insight into photocatalytic CO2 reduction with H2O over Au nanoparticles by interband transitions

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Shangguan, Wenchao, Liu, Qing, Wang, Ying, Sun, Ning, Liu, Yu, Zhao, Rui, Li, Yingxuan, Wang, Chuanyi +1 more·2022·Nature Communications
DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-31474-2PMC PMC9259601
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Abstract

Achieving CO 2 reduction with H 2 O on metal photocatalysts and understanding the corresponding mechanisms at the molecular level are challenging. Herein, we report that quantum-sized Au nanoparticles can photocatalytically reduce CO 2 to CO with the help of H 2 O by electron-hole pairs mainly originating from interband transitions. Notably, the Au photocatalyst shows a CO production rate of 4.73 mmol g−1 h−1(~100% selectivity), ~2.5 times the rate during CO 2 reduction with H 2 under the same experimental conditions, under low-intensity irradiation at 420 nm. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that the increased activity is induced by surface Au–O species formed from H 2 O decomposition, which synchronously optimizes the rate-determining steps in the CO 2 reduction and H 2 O oxidation reactions, lowers the energy barriers for the *CO desorption and *OOH formation, and facilitates CO and O 2 production. Our findings provide an in-depth mechanistic understanding for designing active metal photocatalysts for efficient CO 2 reduction with H 2 O.

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  • Au species predominantly exist in a purely metallic state in PdPtRhRuAu HEAAs, as substantiated by XPS peaks corresponding solely to zero-valence state.

    “With regard to Au species (Figure 2l), it is found that it predominantly exist in a purely metallic state, as substantiated by the observation of characteristic peaks corresponding solely to the zero-valence state in XPS spectrum.[34]”

    From Constructing Novel High‐Entropy Alloy Aerogels Platform for pH‐Universal Hydrogen Evolution Reaction with High Electrocatalytic Activity and Stability (2026) · cites this paper as [34]

    The Results (Characterizations of the Au NPs) report XPS peaks at 83.6 and 87.2 eV as evidence of metallic Au in the paper’s as-prepared Au nanoparticles. That supports the interpretation of metallic-Au XPS peaks, but the source does not study PdPtRhRuAu HEAAs or establish that their Au peaks correspond solely to zero-valence Au. The Discussion also reports Au+ peaks after irradiation. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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References 69 · Cited by 332

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Authors
Shangguan, W., Liu, Q., Wang, Y., Sun, N., Liu, Y., Zhao, R., Li, Y., Wang, C., & Zhao, J.
Affiliations
  • Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (CN)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • Zhengzhou University (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Wang, Ying
  • Li, Yingxuan
ORCID
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-07-06
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
3894-3894
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-31474-2
PMC
PMC9259601
OpenAlex
W4284883996
Cited by
332
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 59 · 2025: 101 · 2024: 87 · 2023: 82 · 2022: 3
FWCI
12.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21831003, 21673220, 21972082)
  • Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province (20200201001JC)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
  • Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Catalysis › Catalysts for Methane Reforming
Keywords
photocatalytic CO2 reduction, gold nanoparticles, water as electron donor, interband transitions, co-production, water oxidation, CO desorption, OOH intermediate, reaction mechanism

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