中央研究院 原子與分子科學研究所

In this study, copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) decorated graphene oxide (Cu/GO) has been used to enhance photocatalytic CO2 reduction under visible-light. A rapid one-pot microwave process was used to prepare the Cu/GO hybrids with various Cu contents. The attributes of metallic copper nanoparticles (~4-5 nm) in GO hybrid predominately enhance the photocatalytic activity of GO, which is primarily due to the suppression of electron-hole pair recombination, further reduction of GO's bandgap, and modification of their work function. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy studies indicate a charge transfer from GO to Cu. Strong metal-support interaction is also proposed to play some role in the selection of reactions and products.  More than 60 times enhancement in CO2 to fuel catalytic efficiency has been demonstrated using Cu/GO-2 (10 wt% Cu) comparative to that using pristine GO; or 240 times enhancement comparative to P25.