Conversion of Biomasses and Copper into Catalysts for Photocatalytic CO Reduction.

The rapid increase of CO in the atmosphere has caused serious environmental problems. Burning of biomass wastes increases the content of CO in the environment. Herein, we propose a new strategy to convert biomass into photocatalysts for artificial CO reduction. Using a hydrothermal method, carbohydrates from biomass can be converted into hydrothermal carbonaceous carbon (HTCC). The HTCC consists of plenty of sp-hybridized structures, which are capable of absorbing solar light for photocatalytic CO reduction. Furthermore, with the addition of Cu cocatalysts, higher activity can be obtained for CO reduction. The activity of Cu-HTCC is 32 and 1.7 times higher than that of commercial TiO and pure HTCC, respectively. This method provides a new strategy of trash to treasure, which converts biomass waste into photocatalysts for CO reduction.