Advances in visible light responsive titanium oxide-based photocatalystsfor CO 2 conversion to hydrocarbon fuels

Abstract

This is an article from the web nothing original Solar conversion of CO 2 to hydrocarbon fuels seems promising to reduce global warming for improvedsustainability. Solar energy, as direct solar irradiations, is excessively available and it is imperious to uti-lizeitforsolarfuelproduction.Thisreviewpaperisorganizedtodiscussrecentinnovationsandpotentialapplications of phototechnology to recycle CO 2 via visible light responsive (VLR) TiO 2 -based photocata-lyst. In this perspective various enhancement methods such as doping with metals and non-metalsand sensitization to expand TiO 2 band gap toward visible region are critically discussed. This reviewpaper also presents applications of VLR photocatalysts, advances in photoreactors, and future prospectsof VLR based technology for conversion of CO 2 to hydrocarbon fuels. The findings of this study revealedboth metals and non-metals could improve TiO 2 photoactivity, but non-metals and especially co-metalswere more efficient. The combination of co-metals with sensitizers exhibited much higher CO, CH 4 andCH 3 OH yield rates. Among photocatalytic reactors, optical fibers and monolith photoreactors are moreefficient because of their efficient light harvesting potential. Although the progress in CO 2 reduction tofuels is encouraging, further considerations are required for commercialization purposes.