Remarkable Activity of 002 Facet of Ruthenium Nanoparticles Grown on Graphene Films on the Photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Methanation
Aïcha Anouar, Rocio García‐Aboal, Pedro Atienzar, Antonio Franconetti, Nadia Katir, Abdelkrim El Kadib, Ana Primo, Hermenegildo Garcı́a
Abstract
Abstract In the context of diminishing atmospheric CO 2 emissions, there is an urgent need to develop processes that can be carried out at a scale commensurate with appropriate CO 2 volumes. One possible reaction is the transformation of CO 2 to methane (Sabatier reaction). Due to its chemical stability, catalytic CO 2 hydrogenation to methane is carried out at temperatures of 450 °C or higher and pressures above 5 bars, thus, requiring a significant energy input. One alternative possibility to conventional thermal catalysis is the use of solar light as the primary energy, performing the photocatalytic CO 2 hydrogenation. In this broad context, the present study shows the photocatalytic activity of nanometric films of oriented Ru nanoparticles (NPs) strongly grafted on defective graphene. These graphene films (thinner than 20 nm) containing Ru NPs nanoplatelets (less than 2 nanomol Ru /cm 2 ) are among the most active photocatalysts ever prepared for CO 2 hydrogenation and operate through photoinduced charge separation.