Boosting the photocatalytic activity and stability of Cu2O for CO2 conversion

Cu2O is one of the most promising photocatalysts for visible light driven CO2 conversion, but its practical application in artificial photosynthesis is challenged to severe photocorrosion. Herein, a Cu2O/LaTiO2N composite is successfully synthesized by loading Cu2O on LaTiO2N through an ascorbic acid reduction method, which significantly improves the stability and activity of Cu2O for visible light driven photocat-alytic CO2 conversion, and shows higher photocatalytic performance than most Cu2O-based photocata-lysts reported. The superior photocatalytic performance is attributed to the formation of type-II heterojunction between Cu2O and LaTiO2N, which facilitates the separation and transfer of photogener-ated electrons and holes. This work provides an effective strategy for the construction of stable and effi-cient Cu2O-based photocatalysts. (c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, a Cu2O/LaTiO2N composite was successfully synthesized by loading Cu2O on LaTiO2N, which improved the photocatalytic performance of Cu2O under visible light. The formation of a type-II heterojunction in the composite facilitated the separation and transfer of electrons and holes.