Tandem catalysts CuSe/Au<sub><i>X</i></sub> for increasing local *CO concentration to promote the photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction to C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub>
Yifan Yan, Hongzhi Wang, Xinze Bi, Yuezhu Zhao, Wenhang Wang, Mingbo Wu
Abstract
Abstract It is highly desired yet challenging to strategically steer CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) toward ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) with high activity under visible light irradiation. The key to achieving this goal is increasing the local *CO concentration on the catalyst surface and promoting the C‐C coupling progress. Here, we prepare tandem catalysts of CuSe/Au X to realize the photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to C 2 H 4 with high activity. Under light irradiation, the loaded Au NPs are used to activate and transfer CO 2 to *CO. The generated *CO intermediate could migrate to the surface of CuSe and cause the C‐C coupling process. Moreover, the theoretical calculation results show that the transport process of *CO from Au NPs to CuSe is spontaneous, which plays a critical role in guaranteeing the high concentration of *CO intermediate on the surface of CuSe. This work not only reveals the effect of tandem catalysis on CO 2 RR to C2 products but also explores the most suitable tandem catalyst to produce C 2 H 4 with high activity by adjusting the loading amounts of Au NPs. Thus, it provides a way to adjust the Cu‐based catalyst used in the production of C2 products by photocatalytic CO 2 RR, which may attract extensive attention in the field.