title: Heterogeneous reduction of carbon dioxide by hydride-terminated silicon nanocrystals.
abstract: Silicon constitutes 28% of the earth's mass. Its high abundance, lack of toxicity and low cost coupled with its electrical and optical properties, make silicon unique among the semiconductors for converting sunlight into electricity. In the quest for semiconductors that can make chemicals and fuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide, unfortunately the best performers are invariably made from rare and expensive elements. Here we report the observation that hydride-terminated silicon nanocrystals with average diameter 3.5 nm, denoted ncSi:H, can function as a single component heterogeneous reducing agent for converting gaseous carbon dioxide selectively to carbon monoxide, at a rate of hundreds of μmol h(-1) g(-1). The large surface area, broadband visible to near infrared light harvesting and reducing power of SiH surface sites of ncSi:H, together play key roles in this conversion. Making use of the reducing power of nanostructured hydrides towards gaseous carbon dioxide is a conceptually distinct and commercially interesting strategy for making fuels directly from sunlight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Chenxi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.|Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Carbon-based Functional Materials and Devices, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Suite 140, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.
authors.forename: Kulbir Kaur
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Ghuman
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Annabelle P Y
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Suite 140, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Suite 140, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.
authors.forename: Feysal M.
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Suite 103, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Suite 103, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: The Edward S. Rogers Sr Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, 10 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G4.
authors.forename: Amr S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Helmy
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Suite 103, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mims
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Suite 140, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E4.|The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G8.
authors.forename: Chandra Veer
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6644-0178
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Solar Fuels Research Cluster, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6.
authors.forename: Geoffrey A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Ozin