A Novel Photo-thermochemical Approach for Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane

We report a new approach for photo-thermochemical CO2 (dry) reforming of methane (PTC-DRM) to produce syngas by using concentrated sunlight as the energy input. A unique catalyst, Pt-supported Si-modified CeO2, was designed for this novel PTC-DRM reaction by integrating photocatalytic and thermocatalytic effects, for which Pt was the thermocatalytic DRM catalyst and co-catalyst for photocatalysis, CeO2 was the DRM support and semiconductor photocatalyst, and Si was the promoter and stabilizer. Under irradiation of the equivalent of 30suns at 600 degrees C in 30h, the production rates of H-2 and CO reached stable levels of 90 and 154mmolg(-1)h(-1), respectively, which were five and two times higher than those obtained in the dark at the same temperature. The significantly enhanced catalytic performance and stability under solar irradiation, resulting from synergy between the photocatalytic and thermocatalytic effects, demonstrates the feasibility of a new direction in low-carbon fuel production from sunlight.