Electronic Interactions on Platinum/(Metal-Oxide)-Based Photocatalysts Boost Selective Photoreduction of CO to CH.

By supporting platinum (Pt) and cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles on indium oxide (In O ), we fabricated a CdS/Pt/In O photocatalyst. Selective photoreduction of carbon dioxide (CO ) to methane (CH ) was achieved on CdS/Pt/In O with electronic Pt-In O interactions, with CH selectivity reaching to 100 %, which is higher than that on CdS/Pt/In O without electronic Pt-In O interactions (71.7 %). Moreover, the enhancement effect of electronic Pt-(metal-oxide) interactions on selective photoreduction of CO to CH also occurs by using other common metal oxides, such as photocatalyst supports, including titanium oxide, gallium oxide, zinc oxide, and tungsten oxide. The electronic Pt-(metal-oxide) interactions separate photogenerated electron-hole pairs and convert CO into CO , which can be easily hydrogenated into CH via a CO →HCOO*→HCO*→CH*→CH path, thus boosting selective photoreduction of CO to CH . This offers a new way to achieve selective photoreduction of CO .