Bulk Photodriven CO₂ Conversion through TiO₂@Si(HIPE) Monolithic Macrocellular Foams

Abstract

Abstract Operating photo‐induced reactions exclusively on catalyst surfaces while not exploiting the full catalyst volume generates a major footprint penalty for the photocatalytic reactor and leads to an inefficient use of the catalytic material. Photonic investigations clearly show that the solid foams have a strongly multidiffusive character, with photons being significantly trapped within the sample cores while addressing a photon mean free path l t = 20.1 ± 1.3 µm. This 3D process both greatly limits back‐reactions and promotes outstanding selectivity toward methane (around 80%) generation, and even ethane (around 18%) through C‐C coupling reaction, with residual carbon monoxide and dihydrogen contents (around 2%). Silica–titania TiO 2 @Si(HIPE) self‐standing macrocellular catalysts lead to optimal efficient thicknesses up to 20 times those of powders, thereby enhancing the way for real 3D‐photodriven catalytic processes above the millimeter scale and up to a 6 mm thickness. A rather simple Langmuir–Hinshelwood based kinetic model is proposed which highlights the strong dependence of photocatalytic reaction rates on light scattering and the crucial role on oxidation back‐reactions. In addition, a strong correlation between light attenuation coefficient and photon mean free path and median pore aperture diameter is demonstrated, offering thus a tool for photocatalytic behavior prediction.