Abstract:
Metal nanoparticles with high surface area and high electrochemical activity exhibit excellent catalytic performance in the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO
2). However, poor stability, small specific surface area, and less active sites limits its solar energy utilization. Hydrothermal method was utilized to synthesize the bimetallic material of Cu
xCo
1−x in this work. Co was loaded onto the Cu surface due to the electrons generated by the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect occurring on the Cu surface. Cu
xCo
1−x exhibits high photocatalytic conversion of CO
2 efficiency under irradiation, which mainly because the Co nanoparticles on the surface of Cu can be used as cocatalysts to enhance the photocharge transfer. Cu
0.6Co
0.4 exhibits the comparatively best photocatalytic conversion efficiency of CO
2 in the first 6 hours light irradiation. The yields of CO and CH
4 reached 35.26 and 2.71 μmol/(g·h), respectively. Upon illumination, electrons were produced, with the majority of them moving towards the interface. This movement contributes to the increased lifetime of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, which in turn boosts the photocatalytic efficiency. The findings of this research provide significant insights for creating photocatalysts that are both highly effective and stable in CO
2 reduction processes.