Assembling CeO nanoparticles on ZIF-8 the hydrothermal method to promote the CO photoreduction performance.

Photocatalytic reduction of CO to valuable carbon fuel is a prospective technique to decrease CO emissions and simultaneously generate efficient chemical energy. In this paper, a novel high-efficiency photocatalyst ZIF-8@CeO heterogeneous composite (ZIF = zeolitic imidazolate framework) was prepared by the hydrothermal method, where CeO nanospheres were uniformly grown on the surface of ZIF-8. Compared to pristine ZIF-8 or CeO nanoparticles (NPs), the ZIF-8@CeO composite shows significantly better efficiency in the reduction of CO into CO and CH under light irradiation, that is the CO evolution rate can reach 465.01 μmol g h and the CH evolution rate can reach 181.27 μmol g h. Analyses indicated that the addition of CeO in the composites will expand the photoresponse region; the formation of the ZIF-8/CeO heterojunction significantly promoted the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs within the composite. This work provided an effective method to further improve the catalytic activity of ZIF-based materials, which paved a new way for eco-friendly conversion of carbon dioxide into clean fuels and they could also have huge potential for application in energy and environmental science.