Visible-Light-Driven CO2 Reduction by Mesoporous Carbon Nitride Modified with Polymeric Cobalt Phthalocyanine

Abstract

The integration of molecular catalysts with low-cost, solid light absorbers presents a promising strategy to construct catalysts for the generation of solar fuels. Here, we report a photocatalyst for CO2 reduction that consists of a polymeric cobalt phthalocyanine catalyst (CoPPc) coupled with mesoporous carbon nitride (mpg-CNx) as the photosensitizer. This precious-metal-free hybrid catalyst selectively converts CO2 to CO in organic solvents under UV/Vis light (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm−2, λ>300 nm) with a cobalt-based turnover number of 90 for CO after 60 h. Notably, the photocatalyst retains 60 % CO evolution activity under visible light irradiation (λ>400 nm) and displays moderate water tolerance. The in situ polymerization of the phthalocyanine allows control of catalyst loading and is key for achieving photocatalytic CO2 conversion.