A p-n Junction by Coupling Amine-Enriched Brookite-TiO Nanorods with CuS Nanoparticles for Improved Photocatalytic CO Reduction.

Photocatalytic CO reduction is a promising technology for reaching the aim of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality", and it is crucial to design efficient photocatalysts with a rational surface and interface tailoring. Considering that amine modification on the surface of the photocatalyst could offer a favorable impact on the adsorption and activation of CO, in this work, amine-modified brookite TiO nanorods (NH-B-TiO) coupled with CuS (NH-B-TiO-CuS) were effectively fabricated via a facile refluxing method. The formation of a p-n junction at the interface between the NH-B-TiO and the CuS could facilitate the separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers. Consequently, under light irradiation for 4 h, when the CuS content is 16%, the maximum performance for conversion of CO to CH reaches at a rate of 3.34 μmol g h in the NH-B-TiO-CuS composite, which is approximately 4 times greater than that of pure NH-B-TiO. It is hoped that this work could deliver an approach to construct an amine-enriched p-n junction for efficient CO photoreduction.