Co-doped MoS2 NPs with matched energy band and low overpotential high efficiently convert CO2 to methanol

Co-doped MoS2 NPs (30 nm in diameter) was prepared by hydrothermal method and used for photo-electrocatalytic reduction of CO2. Compared with MoS2, the novel catalyst Co-doped MoS2 NPs obtained the valence band and conduction band locating at 0.89 V and -0.52 V, which leaded to the high efficient photocatalytic reduction performance. In the aspects of electrocatalysis, resistance reduces by 85 KSZ, the conductivity of the target material was enhanced greatly, the reduction overpotential for CO2 decreases from -0.82 V to -0.64 V, which lead to a large improvement on electrocatalytic activity finally. Thus, the Co-doped MoS2 NPs have both excellent photocatalytic performance and excellent electrocatalytic performance. The main CO2 reduction product is methanol, and the yield of which reaches 35 mmol L-1 at 350 min. The results have guiding significance for the photoelectric catalyst design, which also have theoretical significance for the photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO2. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.