zn2tio4-tio2(anatase)-tio2(rutile) ternary heterojuncted nanophotocatalyst: conversion of co2 to methanol at atmospheric pressure and room temperature

Titanium dioxide (tio2) has attracted increasing attention as a candidate for the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (co2) to convert anthropogenic co2 gas into fuels combined with storage of intermittent and renewable solar energy in forms of chemical bonds for closing the carbon cycle. herein, a ternary heterojunction nanophotocatalyst of zn2tio4-tio2(anatase)-tio2(rutile) is designed for photocatalytic co2 reduction. the nanophotocatalyst has been characterized by xrd and fesem analysis. also gas chromatographic analysis indicated the formation of methanol. the improved photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the inhibited recombination of photogenerated charge carriers induced by ternary heterojunction. in this study we produced 41.2 µmole/g methanol in 8 hours for 1 g/l of zn2tio4-tio2(anatase)-tio2(rutile) nanophotocatalyst at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.