Reduction of CO2 to low carbon alcohols on CuO FCs/Fe2O3 NTs catalyst with photoelectric dual catalytic interfaces

Abstract

In this paper, the CuO FCs/Fe₂O₃ NTs catalyst was obtained after Fe₂O₃ nanotubes (Fe₂O₃ NTs) were decorated with CuO flower clusters (CuO FCs) by the pulse electrochemical deposition method. The in situ vertically aligned Fe₂O₃ NTs were prepared on the ferrous substrate by a potentiostatic anodization method. The SEM result showed the volcano-like Fe₂O₃ NTs were arranged in order and the CuO FCs constituted of flaky CuO distributed on the Fe₂O₃ NTs surface uniformly. After CuO FCs were loaded on Fe₂O₃ NTs, the absorption of visible light was enhanced noticeably, and its band gap narrowed to 1.78 eV from 2.03 eV. The conduction band and valence band locating at −0.73 eV and 1.05 eV, respectively were further obtained. In the PEC reduction of CO₂ process, methanol and ethanol were two major products identified by chromatography. Their contents reached 1.00 mmol L⁻¹ cm⁻² and 107.38 μmol L⁻¹ cm⁻² after 6 h, respectively. This high-efficiency catalyst with photoelectric dual catalytic interfaces has a great guidance and reference significance for CO₂ reduction to liquid carbon fuels.