Graphene oxide as a promising photocatalyst for CO2 to methanol conversion

Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to hydrocarbons such as methanol makes possible simultaneous solar energy harvesting and CO2 reduction, two birds with one stone for the energy and environmental issues. This work describes a high photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to methanol using graphene oxides (GOs) as a promising photocatalyst. The modified Hummer's method has been applied to synthesize the GO based photocatalyst for the enhanced catalytic activity. The photocatalytic CO2 to methanol conversion rate on modified graphene oxide (GO-3) is 0.172 mu mol g cat(-1) h(-1) under visible light, which is six-fold higher than the pure TiO2.