Photocatalytic CO2 reduction coupled with biomass-based amines oxidation over double-shelled CdS nanocages

Abstract

Solar-driven CO2 reduction to CO production is often hampered by the kinetically sluggish water photooxidation and fast recombination of photocarriers. Herein, we report a photoredox system of CO2 reduction coupled with biomass-based amines oxidation. Double-shelled CdS nanocages (CdS DSNC) are synthesized by a successive etching‑sulfuration strategy, which delivers impressive CO and difurfurylamine yields of 1226.4 and 5526.5 μmol·g−1·h−1, respectively. Mechanism studies uncover that the double-shelled structure endows CdS DSNC with high accessibility of active sites and short transfer distance for photocarriers. Besides, furfurylamine serves as both the electron donor and the capturer of CO2, thus boosting the photoredox performance.