A novel Ru/TiO2 hybrid nanocomposite catalyzed photoreduction of CO2 to methanol under visible light

Abstract

A novel in situ synthesized Ru(bpy)₃/TiO₂ hybrid nanocomposite is developed for the photoreduction of CO₂ into methanol under visible light irradiation. The prepared composite was characterized by means of SEM, TEM, XRD, DT–TGA, XPS, UV–Vis and FT-IR techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized hybrid catalyst was tested for the photoreduction of CO₂ under visible light using triethylamine as a sacrificial donor. The methanol yield for the Ru(bpy)₃/TiO₂ hybrid nanocomposite was found to be 1876 μmol g⁻¹ cat (ϕ_MeOH 0.024 mol Einstein⁻¹) that was much higher in comparison with the in situ synthesized TiO₂, 828 μmol g⁻¹ cat (ϕ_MeOH 0.010 mol Einstein⁻¹) and the homogeneous Ru(bpy)₃Cl₂ complex, 385 μmol g⁻¹ cat (ϕ_MeOH 0.005 mol Einstein⁻¹).