Photo-conversion of CO 2 using titanium dioxide: enhancements by plasmonic and co-catalytic nanoparticles

Converting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to hydrocarbons that can be used as fuels is beneficial from both environmental and economic points of view. In this study, nanoparticles are designed to enhance the photoreduction of CO 2 on a titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) catalyst. An increase in catalytic activity is reported when silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) or bimetallic Ag–Pt and core–shell Ag@silica (SiO 2 ) nanoparticles are used with the TiO 2 semiconductor catalyst. Nanoparticles with different elemental composition or geometrical structure facilitate successive photo-excitation steps—generation, transport, storage and interfacial transfer of electrons and holes. Results show that while the addition of either type of nanoparticles augments product formation rates, bimetallic co-catalysts improve product selectivity. When both bimetallic co-catalysts and Ag@SiO 2 nanoparticles are used in combination, product yields are enhanced more tha...

Bijith D Mankidy, Babu Joseph and Vinay K Gupta

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