Harnessing Photo-to-Thermal Conversion in Sulfur-Vulcanized Mxene for High-Efficiency Solar-to-Carbon-Fuel Synthesis

Yahui Chen, Xinyu Lin, Wanhe Li, Hongyang Sun, Shuhan Jia, Yiying Zhou, Yue Hao, Zhonghuan Liu, Shikang Yin, Chengqi Guo, Yuming Sun, Pengwei Huo, Chunxiang Li, Yun Hau Ng, John Crittenden*, Zhi Zhu*, Yan Yan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Harnessing solar energy for the conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels represents a promising strategy for sustainable development. Photo-to-thermal (PTT) conversion, an often-underestimated factor, offers a remarkable approach to enhance the photocatalytic transformation of CO2, by reducing the activation energy of catalytic reactions and accelerating reaction kinetics. In order to achieve a higher energy return on investment (EROI), in this study, a sulfur-vulcanized, multi-layer Ti3C2 MXene is unveiled, capable of efficient sunlight-driven CO2 photoreduction, by capitalizing on PTT conversion across the full visible-to-near-infrared (NIR) spectrum. The vulcanization strategy is pivotal here, as it not only introduces an abundance of reactive sites but also extends the NIR response (peaking at 1095 nm) of MXene. The resulting rapid PTT and synergistic photo-thermal-catalytic CO2 reduction constitute a significant advance in this area, where CH4 (12.03 mmol g−1 h−1) and C2H4 (3.55 mmol g−1 h−1) yields are achieved with a C2+ selectivity of 29.76% under concentrated natural sunlight. This work sets a new benchmark for EROI with an average solar-to-carbon-fuel (STF) conversion efficiency greater than 0.045%.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number2400121
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume34
Issue number33
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 14 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Keywords

  • CO reduction
  • energy return on investment
  • photo-to-thermal conversion
  • TiC MXene
  • visible-to-near-infrared

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • General Chemistry
  • Biomaterials
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrochemistry

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