title: Three-Dimensional Bimetal-Graphene-Semiconductor Coaxial Nanowire Arrays to Harness Charge Flow for the Photochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide.
abstract: The photochemical conversion of carbon dioxide provides a straightforward and effective strategy for the highly efficient production of solar fuels with high solar-light utilization efficiency. However, the high recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole (e-h) pairs and the poor photostability have greatly limited their practical applications. Herein, a practical strategy is proposed to facilitate the separation of e-h pairs and enhance the photostability in a semiconductor by the use of a Schottky junction in a bimetal-graphene-semiconductor stack array. Importantly, Au-Cu nanoalloys (ca. 3 nm) supported on a 3D ultrathin graphene shell encapsulating a p-type Cu2O coaxial nanowire array promotes the stable photochemical reduction of CO2 to methanol by the synergetic catalytic effect of interfacial modulation and charge-transfer channel design. This work provides a promising lead for the development of practical catalysts for sustainable fuel synthesis.
authors.affiliation: School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China). jhou@ustb.edu.cn.|Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579 (Japan). jhou@ustb.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jungang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China).
authors.forename: Huijie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579 (Japan).
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.affiliation: School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China). hzhu@material.tohoku.ac.jp.|Tohoku University, Aramaki-Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579 (Japan). hzhu@material.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hongmin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: Cu2O nanowire arrays; carbon dioxide; gold; graphene layers; photoreduction