Using solar energy to photocatalytically reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) to fuels, are attractive options for simultaneously utilizing what is otherwise a major greenhouse gas (CO2), solving the shortage of sustainable energy. The challenges presented here are great, but the potential rewards are enormous. CO2 are extremely stable molecules; returning CO2 to a useful state by activation/reduction is a scientifically challenging problem, requiring appropriate catalysts and energy input.<br/>The potential success of solar-to-chemical conversion relies on the development of efficient photocatalysts that absorb photon energy from sunlight to create active charge carries, which are capable of the desired chemical reactions. A suitable semiconductor photocatalyst requires a sufficiently high conduction band (CB) edge to enable excited electrons to reduce CO2 and a deep valance band (VB) level to allow the photogenerated holes to oxidize water. To date, more than a hundred types of semiconductor materials have been reported as possible photocatalysts for water splitting and CO2 reduction, and lots of them include carbon materials. So the nano-engineered materials offer unprecedented opportunities for green photocatalytic applications in reduction CO2 to useful chemicals.<br/>In this context, we will present the applications of carbon quantum dots(CQDs)-based semiconductor nanocomposites (CQDs/MoS2, CQDs/Cu2O, etc) obtained by our research group and their application in the photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to useful fuels and photocatalytic water splitting reaction. Our results show the positive effect of coupling the carbon quantum dots with semiconductors for photocatalysis.

Nanostructured carbon based materials for photocatalytically reduce carbon dioxide to fuels

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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