Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Conversion of CO₂ to CO Catalyzed by Surface‐Ligand‐Removed and Cd‐Rich CdSe Quantum Dots

Abstract

Abstract Surface ligand‐removed and Cd‐rich CdSe quantum dots (QDs) exhibited exceptional activity as photocatalyst for the conversion of CO 2 to CO. A CO production rate up to 789 mmol g −1 h −1 was achieved in a triethylamine/dimethylformamide mixture under visible‐light irradiation. Mechanistic studies revealed that improving the Cd/Se stoichiometric ratio and exposing more active surface Cd atoms significantly enhanced the activity of CdSe QDs for CO 2 photoreduction.