Preparation of Pd/TiO2 nanowires for the photoreduction of CO2 into renewable hydrocarbon fuels

In this study, various Pd-loaded TiO2 nanowire (Pd/TiO2-NW) catalysts were prepared using the hydrothermal method, and their photocatalytic activity toward the photoreduction of CO2 into methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) was evaluated. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence analysis. The addition of Pd on TiO2-NWs can improve the production yield of CO2 photoreduction to CH4 and CO. The 0.5 wt% Pd/TiO2-NWs showed optimal CO and CH4 yields of 50.4 and 26.7 mol/g, respectively. Moreover, the 0.5 wt% Pd/TiO2-NWs could be used repeatedly with only a small loss of photocatalytic activity noted after 30 days. Furthermore, a mechanism for the photoreduction of CO2 was proposed. Therefore, Pd/TiO2-NWs are an efficient photocatalyst for the reduction of CO2 to CH4 and CO. (C) 2018 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.