Photothermal synergistic catalytic reactions: g-C3N4 assisted CeO2 for efficient selective aromatic alcohol oxidation

Abstract

This paper investigates the enhanced effect of photothermal synergistic catalytic reactions and demonstrates this effect using CeO2 as an example. The experimental results demonstrate that CeO2 exhibits remarkable ability to efficiently harness both light and thermal energy for catalytic reactions, which can achieve the enhanced effect of photothermal synergistic catalytic reaction. The effect of photothermal co-catalysis is significantly greater than the simple algebraic sum of photocatalysis and thermal catalysis. Furthermore, by incorporating other materials such as g-C3N4, the photothermal catalytic performance of CeO2 can be further enhanced. Specifically, under visible light irradiation and a stable temperature of 363.15 K, the yield and selectivity of 50% CeO2/g-C3N4 (50% COCN) catalyst for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde reached 56.9% and 99%, respectively. Based on characterization and theoretical calculations, a possible mechanism of photothermal co-catalysis was proposed. This study provides a new idea for the implementation of photothermal synergistic catalytic reaction and provides a reference for the design and synthesis of related materials.