Solar-powered CO2 marvel: ultrahigh graphene quantum dots covalently coupled with PhS unleash effective photocatalysis for valuable chemical transformation

Abstract

Carbon dioxide is particularly significant because it is the most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. It is released when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are burned for energy production, transportation, and industrial processes. Many strategies are being pursued to address this stumbling block and ensure that the tremendously growing demand for global energy can be satisfied in a justifiable manner. On a large scale, technologies have been developed for the hydrogenation of CO₂ into alcohols and acids, but their industrial applications are limited due to the high price of renewable hydrogen and pure CO₂ availability. Particular attention is being paid to this field due to the increased levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere, leading to a rise in global temperatures. Therefore, converting CO₂ into important value-added solar chemicals through CO₂ fixation has been a challenging task for the scientific community. Herein, we account for the solar-powered CO₂ marvel: ultrahigh graphene quantum dots covalently coupled with PhS unleash effective photocatalysis for valuable chemical transformation. The coupled GQDCCPhS photoreactor plays a photocatalyst role in an extremely selective and proficient manner, leading to more coenzyme (1,4-NADH) photo-regeneration (61.09%), pursued by its consumption in exclusive value-added chemical (formic acid) production (163.04 μmol) by utilizing CO₂. The current study effort emphasizes that developing a GQDCCPhS photoreactor to capture CO₂ emissions from power plants and industrial facilities can help prevent them from entering the atmosphere and also result in the perfect example for selective production of formic acid, i.e., solar chemicals via solar radiation.