Abstract
The conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbon or syngas (CO) using sunlight can address numerous current environmental issues and future challenges in the energy domain. Although numerous visible light-responsive photocatalysts have been reported, the quantum yield remains limited. Furthermore, analytical tools are yet to be established for quantitatively monitoring the amount of excited electrons, which play a critical role in catalytic reactions. The results of this study revealed that the presence of a reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) shell on blue-TiO2 (b-TiO2) considerably improves the photocatalytic performance in selectively converting CO2 into CO under visible light. The formation of the r-GO shell on b-TiO2 narrowed the b-TiO2 bandgap. Moreover, the r-GO shell increased the absorption of visible light and facilitated electron transfer, resulting in approximately eight times the CO yield from b-TiO2@r-GO compared to that of TiO2. The presence of the r-GO shell improved the photocatalytic stability of b-TiO2. Furthermore, four-wave mixing microspectroscopy was performed to analyze the amount of excited electrons. The results of microscopy revealed the amount of excited electrons in b-TiO2@r-GO was approximately 35 times that of TiO2. These results not only proposed a strategy for increasing the stability and efficiency of TiO2-based photocatalysts but also are useful for evaluating the improvement of photocatalyst materials.
Published Version
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