Abstract
The preparation of a specially modified titanium dioxide/zirconium oxide (TiO2/ZrO2) composite and its subsequent application using a unique method are described. Specifically, after the whole surface of the composite was covered with a very thin layer of water, solar light was irradiated onto it. This method is unique because the reduction of CO2 was performed in air (gas phase). The light source was real solar light. In this study, novel composites comprising nanometre-sized TiO2 and micrometre-sized zirconium oxide (ZrO2) increased the amount of reduced CO2. And, suitable weight ratio of TiO2/ZrO2 was 6/4-5/5. Thin water layer on the composite offered catalytic-reaction medium, and, catalytic-reaction cite existed at interface of TiO2 and ZrO2 particles, and, this reaction was catalytic reaction enhanced by photocatalytic effect. A large amount of reduced products (maximum: approximately 300 μmol/(g·300 s) of formaldehyde and methanol)was obtained under only 300 s of irradiation of solar light.
Highlights
The CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is gradually increasing
The term “dry conditions” refers to experiments in which the test unit was not cooled in a refrigerator, whereas the term “wet conditions” refers to experiments in which the test unit was cooled in a refrigerator, resulting in the formation of a thin water layer on the composites
The results indicate that CO2 was reduced under real solar light and that formaldehyde and methanol were obtained in every experiment
Summary
The CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is gradually increasing. Temperature of atmosphere is rising continuously[1]. Many reports in regard to converting CO2 into organic compounds with special photo-catalysts under solar light or visible light irradiation have been proposed[5,6,7,8,9]. No report in which a very large amount of organic compounds has been generated by reducing CO2 with inexpensive catalyst in air under irradiation of solar light at room temperature and atmospheric pressure in both photocatalytic and catalytic fields is founded. The aim of this research is obtaining large amount of low-molecular- weight organic compounds by the original method under irradiation of real solar light
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