CeO2/CuO/TiO2 heterojunction photocatalysts for conversion of CO2 to ethanol

An attempt to reduce CO2 emissions has led to the development of CeO2/CuO/TiO2 heterojunction photocatalysts for photoconversion of CO2 to useful products, e.g. ethanol. Composite photocatalysts were simply prepared by mixing TiO2 (P25) with different mass ratios of CeO2 (1 wt%) and CuO (2 or 3 wt%) by ball milling. The prepared photocatalysts had uniformly distributed CeO2 and CuO phases, throughout the TiO2 phase. The integration of CeO2 and CuO into TiO2 at 1 wt% CeO2 and 3 wt% CuO produced a composite, with a reduced band gap of 2.88 eV, allowing absorption of lower energy light and a lower electron–hole recombination rate. The 1%CeO2/3%CuO/TiO2 photocatalysts yielded ethanol at 30.5 μmol gcat−1 h−1, almost three times higher than the yield from pure TiO2. This improved CO2 conversion efficiency was due to contributions from properties of both additives: CeO2 increased light absorption, while CuO acted as an electron trap and enhanced CO2 adsorption. In addition, the heterojunction at the interfaces facilitated the photogenerated charge separation, which, in turn, increased the charge participation in the catalyzed conversion reactions.