Cu₂O/SiC photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol using visible light on InTaO₄

Photo-catalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol is a direct path to producing energy from the sun. The production of methanol via photocatalytic reduction of CO2 using a modified catalyst was investigated. The photo-catalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol is considered a direct path to producing energy from the sun since it involves using solar energy to drive a chemical reaction that converts CO2 into methanol. The sol-gel method was used to produce Cu2O/SiC catalyst loaded onto InTaO4 photo-catalyst support. The Cu2O/SiC photo-catalyst was made from Cu2O-modified SiC nanoparticles (NPs). An optical-fiber photo-reactor (0.14 m thick) comprising of Cu2OSiC-NPs/InTaO4-coated fibers was used to evenly spread and transmit light inside the reactor. The ultraviolet-visible spectra of powdered Cu2O/SiC, InTaO4, and Cu2O/SiC-InTaO4 were all examined. CO2 was photo-catalytically reduced to CH3OH using sunlight irradiation, visible-light, and the optical-fiber reactor. At 80 degrees C, the CH3OH produced was 21.0 mu mol/g using energy with light intensity of 327 mW/cm(2). The CH3OH production rate from sunlight was 3.43 mu mol/g. The optical-fiber reactor and quantum efficiencies in aqueous-phase were about 0.0045% and 0.063%, per gram of 1 wt%Cu2O+1 wt% SiC on InTaO4 photo-catalyst support. Under visible-light irradiation, a high CH3OH yield of 430 mu mol/g with 1 wt%Cu2O + 1 wt% SiC on InTaO4 was achieved.