Comparison of catalytic activity of carbon-based AgBr nanocomposites for conversion of CO2 under visible light

Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol: Carbonaceous Materials, Kinetics, Industrial Feasibility, and Future Directions

Photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction (PCCR) for methanol synthesis (CH₃OH) targeting renewable energy resources is an attractive way to create a sustainable environment and also balance the carbon-neutral series. The application of PCCR to methanol enables the generation of solar energy while reducing CO₂, killing two birds with one stone in terms of energy and the environment. In recent years, research on CO₂ utilization has focused on hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol due to global warming. This article mainly focuses on selective carbonaceous materials such as graphene, mesoporous carbon, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as catalysts for heterogeneous photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to methanol. In addition, special emphasis will be placed on the state of the art of PCCR catalysts as this type of research will be of great benefit for further development in this field. The main features of the reaction kinetics, techno-economic study, and current technological developments in PCCR are covered in detail.

Carbon Nanotube Films for Energy Applications

This perspective article describes the application opportunities of carbon nanotube (CNT) films for the energy sector. Up to date progress in this regard is illustrated with representative examples of a wide range of energy management and transformation studies employing CNT ensembles. Firstly, this paper features an overview of how such macroscopic networks from nanocarbon can be produced. Then, the capabilities for their application in specific energy-related scenarios are described. Among the highlighted cases are conductive coatings, charge storage devices, thermal interface materials, and actuators. The selected examples demonstrate how electrical, thermal, radiant, and mechanical energy can be converted from one form to another using such formulations based on CNTs. The article is concluded with a future outlook, which anticipates the next steps which the research community will take to bring these concepts closer to implementation.

Impact of Pd Loading on CO2 Reduction Performance over Pd/TiO2 with H2 and H2O

This study investigated the impact of molar ratio of CO₂ to reductants H₂O and H₂, as well as Pd loading weight on CO₂ reduction performance with Pd/TiO₂ as the photocatalyst. The Pd/TiO₂ film photocatalyst is prepared by the sol-gel and dip-coating process to prepare TiO₂ film and the pulse arc plasma method is used to dope Pd on TiO₂ film. The prepared Pd/TiO₂ film was characterized by SEM, EPMA, STEM, EDS, and EELS. This study also investigated the performance of CO₂ reduction under the illumination condition of Xe lamp with or without ultraviolet (UV) light. As a result, it is revealed that when the molar ratio of CO₂/H₂/H₂O is set at 1:0.5:0.5, the best CO₂ reduction performance has been obtained under the illumination condition of Xe lamp with and without UV light. In addition, it is found that the optimum Pd loading weight is 3.90 wt%. The maximum molar quantities of CO and CH₄ produced per unit weight of photocatalyst are 30.3 μmol/g and 22.1 μmol/g, respectively, for the molar ratio of CO₂/H₂/H₂O = 1:0.5:0.5 under the condition of Xe lamp illumination with UV light. With UV light, C₂H₄ and C₂H₆, as well as CO and CH₄ are also produced by the Pd/TiO₂ film photocatalyst prepared in this study.