Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide over Quinacridone Nanoparticles Supported on Reduced Graphene Oxide

Abstract

Photoreduction of carbon dioxide to chemicals or fuels is very interesting from the viewpoint of green chemistry. Herein, we report the photoreduction of CO2 catalyzed by a metal-free photocatalyst: reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported quinacridone (QA) particles (QA/rGO), which were prepared via aggregation of QA on the surface of GO through forming H-bonding with GO. The resultant QA/rGO composites exhibited improved activity for CO2 photocatalytic reduction using TEOA as a sacrifice reagent under ultraviolet light irradiation; especially, the composite with rGO content of 2 wt % (i.e., QA/rGO-2) produced CO and CH4 with rates of 450 and 275 μmol g-1 h-1, respectively. It was indicated that the QA particles served as photosensitizer and photocatalyst, and the rGO nanosheets promoted the transfer of the photogenerated carriers and their separation, thus improving the catalytic activity of QA for catalyzing CO2 reduction.