Solar‐Enhanced CO<sub>2</sub> Conversion with CH<sub>4</sub> over Synergetic NiCo Alloy Catalysts with Light‐to‐Fuel Efficiency of 33.8%
Xianglei Liu, Hang Shi, Xianguang Meng, Chen Sun, Kai Zhang, Lei Gao, Yuan Ma, Zekai Mu, Yueyue Ling, Bo Cheng, Yongliang Li, Yimin Xuan, Yulong Ding
Abstract
Conversion of CO 2 into useful chemical feedstocks or fuels using solar energy is a promising technology to tackle both climate change and energy shortage challenges. Here, NiCo alloys derived from AlMg hydrotalcite are introduced for photothermal synergetic CO 2 conversion with CH 4 with an ultrahigh light‐to‐fuel efficiency of 33.8% and a low carbon deposition rate of 0.011 g c g −1 cat h −1 . The ultrahigh efficiency is attributed to the high solar absorptance of NiCo alloys, unique synergistic catalysis of NiCo active sites, and the photo‐enhanced reactant activation. Inhibition of carbon formation lies in concurrent reduced energy barriers of CH* oxidation to CHO* and increased energy barriers of CH* dissociation to C*, enabled by the unique synergistic catalysis of NiCo alloys. Direct light illumination results in an obvious decrease of the apparent activation energy of CO 2 conversion with CH 4 , making light‐driven CO 2 conversion superior to conventional thermal‐driven techniques. Herein, a new platform for achieving efficient solar‐driven CO 2 conversion with ultrahigh light‐to‐fuel efficiency based on NiCo alloy catalyst is provided and the way for sclable deployment of photothermal CO 2 ‐to‐fuel techniques is paved.