TY - JOUR
T1 - An Investigation into the Stability of Graphitic C3N4 as a Photocatalyst for CO2 Reduction
AU - Pomilla, Francesca
AU - Cortes, Maria Ana
AU - Hamilton, Jeremy
AU - Molinari, Raffaele
AU - Barbieri, Guiseppe
AU - Marci, Guiseppe
AU - Palmisano, Leonardo
AU - Sharma, Preetam
AU - Brown, Alan
AU - Byrne, John
PY - 2018/12/20
Y1 - 2018/12/20
N2 - The increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere exerts a significant influence on global warming and climate change. The capture and utilization of CO2 by conversion to useful products is an area of active research. In this work, the photo-driven reduction of CO2 was investigated using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as a potential photocatalyst. The photocatalytic reduction of CO2 was investigated with g-C3N4 powder immobilized on a glass support in a batch gas phase photoreactor. The experiments were carried out under UV-Vis irradiation at 70°C and an initial pressure of 2.5 bar. The only gas phase product detected during the irradiation of the g-C3N4 in the presence of CO2 was CO, and the rate of production was observed to decrease over time. Oxygen doped g-C3N4 was also tested for CO2 reduction but had lower efficiency that the parent g-C3N4. Repeated cycles of photocatalytic CO2 reduction showed a decline in the activity of the g-C3N4. In the absence of CO2 some CO generation was also observed. Characterization of used and unused materials, using FTIR and XPS, showed an increase in the oxygen functional groups following UV-Vis irradiation or thermal treatment. While others report the use of g-C3N4 as a photocatalyst, this work highlights the important need for replicates and control testing to determine material stability.
AB - The increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere exerts a significant influence on global warming and climate change. The capture and utilization of CO2 by conversion to useful products is an area of active research. In this work, the photo-driven reduction of CO2 was investigated using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as a potential photocatalyst. The photocatalytic reduction of CO2 was investigated with g-C3N4 powder immobilized on a glass support in a batch gas phase photoreactor. The experiments were carried out under UV-Vis irradiation at 70°C and an initial pressure of 2.5 bar. The only gas phase product detected during the irradiation of the g-C3N4 in the presence of CO2 was CO, and the rate of production was observed to decrease over time. Oxygen doped g-C3N4 was also tested for CO2 reduction but had lower efficiency that the parent g-C3N4. Repeated cycles of photocatalytic CO2 reduction showed a decline in the activity of the g-C3N4. In the absence of CO2 some CO generation was also observed. Characterization of used and unused materials, using FTIR and XPS, showed an increase in the oxygen functional groups following UV-Vis irradiation or thermal treatment. While others report the use of g-C3N4 as a photocatalyst, this work highlights the important need for replicates and control testing to determine material stability.
UR - https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/an-investigation-into-the-stability-of-graphitic-c3n4-as-a-photoc
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b09237
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b09237
M3 - Article
SN - 1932-7447
VL - 122
SP - 28727
EP - 28738
JO - Journal Of Physical Chemistry C
JF - Journal Of Physical Chemistry C
IS - 50
ER -