title: Activation of the Carbon Nitride Surface by Silica in a CO-Evolving Hybrid Photocatalyst.
abstract: Photocatalytic reduction of CO2to CO proceeded by visible light (λ>400 nm) using mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (C3N4) coupled with a RuII-ReIbinuclear complex (RuRe) containing a photosensitizer and catalytic units. The selectivity to CO exceeded 90 % during the initial stage. Photocatalytic reactions (including isotope tracer experiments) and electrochemical measurements revealed that the reaction proceeded according to a two-step photoexcitation of C3N4and the RuIIphotosensitizer unit, that is, it followed the Z-Scheme mechanism. Modification of C3N4with highly dispersed silica was found to improve the ability of C3N4to accommodate RuRe, which enhanced the photocatalytic activity for CO production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-NE-2 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.affiliation: Eelectronic Functional Materials Group, Polymer Materials Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Miharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-NE-2 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ishitani
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-NE-2 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D008027:Light; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry*; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D009570:Nitriles; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C011206:cyanogen; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D006108:Graphite; D002248:Carbon Monoxide
keywords: artificial photosynthesis; carbon dioxide reduction; carbon nitride; solar fuels; z-scheme