A spongy nickel-organic CO reduction photocatalyst for nearly 100% selective CO production.

Solar-driven photocatalytic conversion of CO into fuels has attracted a lot of interest; however, developing active catalysts that can selectively convert CO to fuels with desirable reaction products remains a grand challenge. For instance, complete suppression of the competing H evolution during photocatalytic CO-to-CO conversion has not been achieved before. We design and synthesize a spongy nickel-organic heterogeneous photocatalyst via a photochemical route. The catalyst has a crystalline network architecture with a high concentration of defects. It is highly active in converting CO to CO, with a production rate of ~1.6 × 10 μmol hour g. No measurable H is generated during the reaction, leading to nearly 100% selective CO production over H evolution. When the spongy Ni-organic catalyst is enriched with Rh or Ag nanocrystals, the controlled photocatalytic CO reduction reactions generate formic acid and acetic acid. Achieving such a spongy nickel-organic photocatalyst is a critical step toward practical production of high-value multicarbon fuels using solar energy.