Sunlight Powered Continuous Flow Reverse Water Gas Shift Process Using a Plasmonic Au/TiO Nanocatalyst.

The continuous flow reverse water gas shift (rWGS) process was efficiently catalyzed by a plasmonic Au/TiO nanocatalyst using sunlight as sole and sustainable energy source. The influence of the catalyst bed thickness on the CO production rate was studied, and three different catalytic regimes were identified as direct plasmon catalysis (DPC), shielded plasmon catalysis (SPC) and unused plasmon catalysis (UPC). The CO  : H ratio was optimized to 4 : 1 and a maximum CO production rate of 7420 mmol ⋅ m  ⋅ h was achieved under mild reaction conditions (p=3.