Porous hypercrosslinked polymer-TiO2-graphene composite photocatalysts for visible-light-driven CO2 conversion

Abstract

Abstract Significant efforts have been devoted to develop efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts for the conversion of CO 2 to chemical fuels. The photocatalytic efficiency for this transformation largely depends on CO 2 adsorption and diffusion. However, the CO 2 adsorption on the surface of photocatalysts is generally low due to their low specific surface area and the lack of matched pores. Here we report a well-defined porous hypercrosslinked polymer-TiO 2 -graphene composite structure with relatively high surface area i.e., 988 m 2 g −1 and CO 2 uptake capacity i.e., 12.87 wt%. This composite shows high photocatalytic performance especially for CH 4 production, i.e., 27.62 μmol g −1 h −1 , under mild reaction conditions without the use of sacrificial reagents or precious metal co-catalysts. The enhanced CO 2 reactivity can be ascribed to their improved CO 2 adsorption and diffusion, visible-light absorption, and photo-generated charge separation efficiency. This strategy provides new insights into the combination of microporous organic polymers with photocatalysts for solar-to-fuel conversion.