Metallic MoO₂‐Modified Graphitic Carbon Nitride Boosting Photocatalytic CO₂Reduction via Schottky Junction

Abstract

Directly using solar energy to realize photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to hydrocarbon fuels is an effective tactics to solve the energy crisis and carbon emission. Although graphite carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) has been widely studied as a star photocatalyst for CO 2 reduction, the extremely fast charge recombination rate seriously limits its performance. Loading suitable co‐catalysts to construct an effective junction is considered an efficient way to solve this issue and promote photocatalytic performance. In this work, metallic molybdenum dioxide (MoO 2 ) is dispersed on g‐C 3 N 4 nanosheets to construct a Schottky junction photocatalyst. The Schottky junction between MoO 2 and g‐C 3 N 4 induces efficient charge separation and transfer. As a result, the optimal MoO 2 /g‐C 3 N 4 Schottky junction photocatalyst exhibits a 15 times higher CH 4 yield and five times higher CO yield compared with pure g‐C 3 N 4 . This article provides a new route to construct a Schottky junction for boosting photocatalytic activity.