Enhanced photocatalytic reduction of CO2 by fabricating In2O3/CeO2/HATP hybrid multi-junction photocatalyst

A series of novel porous indium (III) oxide (In2O3) and nanocubic cerium oxide (CeO2) loading HCl treated attapulgite (HATP) ternary photocatalysts were successfully synthesized. Simultaneously, all photocatalysts were performed the CO2 reduction under UV-light. To explore the crystal structures, morphologies and electrochemical characteristics of as-synthesized samples, the XRD, SEM and TEM, and transient photocurrent techniques were performed in this work. Besides, as an optimized In2O3/CeO2/HATP sample presents the highest activity for CO (32.03 mu mol/g) and CH4 (16.94 mu mol/g) yields, which is 6.11-fold and 6.78-fold times higher than those of pure CeO2 under UV-light (8W) irradiation. (C) 2019 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.