Direct Solar Conversion of CO2 to Hydrocarbon Fuels: Development and Application of Earth-abundant CuOx/Fe,Cu-doped Ni(oxy)hydroxide/TiO2 Photocatalysts

Dr Feng, Shien Ping Tony   (Principal Investigator (PI))

Dr Li Wendi   (Co-Investigator)

24

2017-12-01

1636000

Direct Solar Conversion of CO2 to Hydrocarbon Fuels: Development and Application of Earth-abundant CuOx/Fe,Cu-doped Ni(oxy)hydroxide/TiO2 Photocatalysts

CO2, Cu-doped Ni(oxy)hydroxide, Direct Solar Conversion, Earth-abundant CuOx/Fe, Hydrocarbon Fuels, TiO2 Photocatalysts

Environmental Research

Engineering (E)

ECF Project 49/2017

Environment and Conservation Fund

2017

Completed

We propose to fabricate, characterize, and test a novel and operationally stable photocatalyst for direct solar conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbon fuels, and does not require the use of relatively scarce/expensive noble metal catalysts such a platinum. Specifically, our proposed research is predicated upon four objectives: (1) Photocatalyst synthesis: we will develop Cu/CuO/CuO2 nanobelts sensitized with Fe,Cu-doped Ni-(oxy)hydroxide and bandgap engineering of TiO2 with or without dopants such as carbon and nitrogen for CO2 conversion to fuel. (2) Control of output reactants: we will investigate hydrophobic/philic nature of Ni-(oxy)hydroxide co-catalyst to enable preferential control of the adsorbed species on its surface. (3) Optimization of photocatalyst stability: we will investigate the hypothesis that the surface wettability switching allow adsorbates on the surface to be ""washed"" and its relationship to the enhancement of the stability. (4) Photocatalytic membranes: We will fabricate our photocatalyst upon a fine-mesh copper screen substrate to enable flow-through photocatalytic operation, achieving its mechanical robustness, high surface area, and the directionality of hydrocarbons exit to reduce back reaction, thereby enhancing the photoconversion rate.