Photocatalytic Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide with High Selectivity to Methanol at Atmospheric Pressure

Summary

The production of solar methanol, directly from gaseous CO₂ and H₂, is important for the development of a sustainable energy economy. Despite growing activity in the field, very few photocatalysts exist that can efficiently and stably hydrogenate gaseous CO₂ to methanol at ambient pressure with high selectivity. Here, we report that a defect-laden indium oxide, In₂O_3−x(OH)_y, with a rod-like nanocrystal superstructure, can photocatalyze the hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol with 50% selectivity under simulated solar irradiation. Notably, the solar methanol production of the In₂O_3−x(OH)_y nanocrystal superstructures can be stabilized at a rate of 0.06 mmol g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹ at atmospheric pressure. This is 120 times higher than that of the best-known photocatalysts. This discovery bodes well for the development of a low-pressure solar methanol process using CO₂ and renewable H₂ feedstocks.