Photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to acetic acid by CuPt/WO3: Chloride enhanced C-C coupling mechanism

Photocatalytic converting CO2 into value-added C2+ fuels has attracted intense attention for CO2 capture and utilization. Cu-based catalysts have shown the potential of photocatalytic CO2 reduction for multi-carbon (C2+) production. However, how the valance state and coordination environment affect the C-C coupling mechanism is unclear and requires further investigation. Herein, we investigate the influence of the coordination environments of hexagonal tungsten oxide (WO3) photocatalyst loading with single-atom Cu and Pt. In this system, Cu(I) is stabilized by forming a coordinated complex, which increased the adsorption capacity of CO and extended the lifetime of CO* intermediate. Simultaneously, adjacent Pt sites provided protons for the hydrogenation of CO* intermediate. The results demonstrated that the coordination of chlorine ions with Cu/Pt was beneficial to the formation of C2+ products. In this work, the Cu2Pt2/WO3 exhibits a high photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity with a yield of 19.41 μmol g−1 h−1 and a selectivity of 88.1%.