In situ growth of Fe-doped zeolitic imidazolate framework on MXene for boosting photodriven CO2 cycloaddition

photodriven CO2 conversion has been widely recognized as an effective pathway for achieving carbon neutrality. In this paper, we demonstrate the immobilization of bimetallic Zn/Fe ZIF onto the surface of Ti3C2TX MXene via an in situ growth process for photodriven solvent-free CO2 cycloaddition. MXene can extend the optical response of bimetallic ZIF into the near-infrared region. In turn, the incorporated MOF particles effectively prevent the layers of MXene from stacking. The resulting Zn20/Fe1-ZIF/MXene has improved activity (96 % yield) in the cycloaddition of epichlorohydrin with 1 bar CO2 under full spectrum illumination (350 mW cm−2) for 6 h, ca. 3.4, 1.7, and 1.2 times higher than those of pure Zn20/Fe1-ZIF, MXene, and the physical mixture, respectively. Besides, this hybrid catalyst provides desirable stability and performance even after several catalytic cycles, exposure to humid environment or under diluted CO2 (15 %). Control experiments and infrared thermography reveal the synergistic photocatalytic-photothermal contribution of hybrid materials to the photoinduced CO2 fixation. Our research offers a facile method to construct MOF containing photocatalysts for application of CO2 conversion with high practical utility.