A Hybrid Photo-Electro Catalytic Conversion of Carbon dioxide Using CuO-MgO Nanocomposite

Abstract

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuels accompanied by renewable resources has been under research since it helps to decrease CO2 levels in the atmosphere. The most suited source is solar energy which is generous and sustainable. In this aspect, photocatalysis (PC) and photo electrocatalysis (PEC) are favorable methods to utilize solar energy for CO2 reduction to carbonaceous fuels. A PEC system is more efficient than a PC system because of the ability to separate photogenerated holes and electrons for higher efficiency. The photo-electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (PEC-CO2RR) can be considered as an artificial photosynthetic system that stores solar energy and stabilizes CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Here CuO–MgO nanocomposite (NC) is used for the effective PEC reduction of CO2 into viable carbonaceous fuels. A simple and scalable sol–gel process was used for synthesizing the CuO–MgO NC. The synthesized NC’s structural, morphological and elemental analysis was performed using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM and EDX. Optical properties were evaluated using UV spectroscopy. The electrochemical and PEC analysis was carried out to study the catalytic behavior of CuO–MgO towards CO2 reduction by the cyclic voltammetry method. The CuO–MgO NC exhibited significantly improved PEC-CO2RR performance compared to electrochemical reduction alone. Moreover, the CuO–MgO NC displayed high structural stability and durability, which benchmark its potential towards PEC reduction to CO2 into carbonaceous fuels.