Active Site Isolation and Enhanced Electron Transfer Facilitate Photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction by A Multifunctional Metal–Organic Framework
Zitong Wang, Pierce Yeary, Yingjie Fan, Chenghua Deng, Wenbin Lin
Abstract
We report a multifunctional metal–organic framework (MOF) photocatalyst for the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) under visible light irradiation with high efficiency (turnover number = 2638) and CO selectivity (97.0%). The short distance (6.6 Å) between bipyridine sites in the MOF allows the integration of Ir photosensitizers and Ni catalysts in proximity, thereby enhancing their electron transfer for photocatalytic CO 2 RR. Isolation of these metal centers by the MOF structure prevents their deactivation, leading to 54 times higher CO 2 RR activity than the homogeneous system and allowing for easy recovery for use in five consecutive cycles of photocatalytic CO 2 RR without significant loss of catalytic activity.