Bottom-Up Strategy to Enhance Long-Range Order of Poly(Heptazine Imide) Nanorods for Efficient Photocatalytic CO Methanation.

Poly(heptazine imide) (PHI), one of the crystalline or long-range ordered allotropes of polymeric carbon nitride, is a promising polymeric photocatalyst; however, preparation of highly crystalline PHI remains a challenge. Herein, through a bottom-up strategy involving repair of structural defects and increase of specific surface area of melon precursor, we prepared PHI nanorods with dramatically improved long-range order. The resulting PHI exhibited a shift of product selectivity in CO photoreduction from CO to CH with a high methanation activity in contrast to the pristine PHI with relatively low long-range order.

Boosting Solar-Driven CO Conversion to Ethanol via Single-Atom Catalyst with Defected Low-Coordination Cu-N Motif.

Cu-based catalysts have been shown to selectively catalyze CO photoreduction to C solar fuels. However, they still suffer from poor activity and low selectivity. Herein, we report a high-performance carbon nitride supported Cu single-atom catalyst featuring defected low-coordination Cu-N motif (Cu-N-V).

Etching-Hydrolysis Strategy To Construct an In-Plane ZnInS/In(OH) Heterojunction with Enhanced CO Photoreduction Performance.

The in-plane heterojunctions with atomic-level thickness and chemical-bond-connected tight interfaces possess high carrier separation efficiency and fully exposed surface active sites, thus exhibiting exceptional photocatalytic performance. However, the construction of in-plane heterojunctions remains a significant challenge. Herein, we prepared an in-plane ZnInS/In(OH) heterojunction (ZISOH) by partial conversion of ZnInS to In(OH) through the addition of HO.

Atomically Dispersed Indium-Copper Dual-Metal Active Sites Promoting C-C Coupling for CO Photoreduction to Ethanol.

Photoreduction of CO to C solar fuel is a promising carbon-neutral technology for renewable energy. This strategy is challenged by its low productivity due to low efficiency in multielectron utilization and slow C-C coupling kinetics. This work reports a dual-metal photocatalyst consisting of atomically dispersed indium and copper anchored on polymeric carbon nitride (InCu/PCN), on which the photoreduction of CO delivered an excellent ethanol production rate of 28.

Defects Promote Ultrafast Charge Separation in Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven CO Reduction Activity.

Fundamental photocatalytic limitations of solar CO reduction remain due to low efficiency, serious charge recombination, and short lifetime of catalysts. Herein, two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets with nitrogen vacancies (g-C N ) located at both three-coordinate N atoms and uncondensed terminal NH species were prepared by one-step tartaric acid-assistant thermal polymerization of dicyandiamide. Transient absorption spectra revealed that the defects in g-C N act as trapped states of charges to result in prolonged lifetimes of photoexcited charge carriers.