Professor Zhang Xiaohong and Professor He Le's team at Suzhou University published their research achievements in the field of photothermal catalytic CO₂ reduction in the July 2021 issue of Nature Energy journal (Impact Factor > 60). The significant reaction equipment used in the study included Perfectlight Technology's flagship product Labsolar-6A all-glass automatic online trace gas analysis system and PLS-SXE 300D xenon lamp light source.
This marks another high Impact Factor publication for Perfectlight Technology, following their publications in Nature (586, 2020, 549–554) and Science (347, 2015, 970-974)!
The first authors of the article are Mujin Cai, Zhiyi Wu, and Zhao Li. The corresponding authors are Professor He Le and Professor Zhang Xiaohong from Suzhou University, and Professor Geoffrey A. Ozin from the University of Toronto.
Highlights of the Article:
In this research, inspired by the greenhouse effect, the authors designed a core-shell structured nanocatalyst that exhibited enhanced photothermal catalytic performance compared to traditional photothermal catalysts. This "greenhouse mimic" consists of nickel nanocrystals encapsulated within nanoporous silica, referred to as Ni@p-SiO₂. Under illumination, the thermal insulation and infrared shielding effects of the nanoporous silica sheath led to an increase in the local temperature (Tlocal) of Ni@p-SiO₂, thereby achieving enhanced photothermal effects. Compared to pure nanocrystals (Ni-NC) and nickel catalysts supported on silica-alumina (Ni/SiO₂∙Al2O₃), Ni@p-SiO₂ exhibited enhanced catalytic activity (8.8 and 12.8 times) and long-term stability (resistance to sintering, avoiding activity loss) in photothermal and thermal RWGS and Sabatier reactions. This enhancement is attributed to the spatial confinement effect of nickel nanocrystals within nanoporous SiO₂. This work takes an important step toward realizing the industrial vision of sustainable solar-driven CO₂ reduction and provides new insights for constructing efficient photothermal catalytic systems.
Article Information:
Mujin Cai, Zhiyi Wu, Zhao Li et. al. Greenhouse-inspired supra-photothermal CO₂ catalysis. Nature Energy 2021, 6, 807–814.
