Abstract
Black liquor, an industrial waste product of papermaking, is primarily used as a low-grade combustible energy source. Despite its high lignin content, the potential utility of black liquor as a feedstock in products manufacturing, remains to be exploited. Demonstrated here in is the use of black liquor as a primary feed-stock for synthesizing graphene quantum dots that exhibit both up-conversion and photoluminescence when excited using visible/near-infrared radiation, thereby enabling the photosensitization of ultraviolet-absorbing TiO2 nanosheets. In addition, these graphene quantum dots can trap photo-generated electrons to realize the effective separation of electron-hole pairs. Together, these two processes facilitate the solar-powered generation of H2 from H2 O, and CO from H2 O-CO2 , using broadband solar radiation.
Published Version
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