Chemical design and DFT approach of heterojunction photocatalysts for CO2 reduction

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A simple chemical synthesis was used to prepare mixed metal oxide namely calcium ferrite (CaFe2O4). Different amounts of CaFe2O4 were mixed with right amount of urea and calcined in a muffle furnace to make graphitic carbon nitride(g-C3N4)-CaFe2O4 heterojunction. The photodegradation of ciprofloxacin and phenol was evaluated using as-synthesized composites. Improved photocatalytic performance of composite was confirmed by electrochemical and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. Scavenging studies and electron spin resonance spectra were used to determine active species responsible for the photodegradation process. Depending on these results, the Z-scheme charge transfer pathway is proposed and confirmed. In October 2022, this work was published in Chemical Engineering Journal. In next work, hydrothermal method was used to prepare copper cobaltite (CuCo2O4) and formed a heterojunction with g-C3N4 nanotubes. Using platinum (Pt) as a co-catalyst in as-synthesized heterojunction we evaluated its performance towards photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction using aqueous triethanolamine solution. Two different techniques namely photo-reduction and chemical reduction were used for reducing the Pt nanoparticles over CuCo2O4/g-C3N4 composites. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated towards H2 evolution. Mechanism for the enhanced performance in the photo-reduced Pt over the composite is evaluated based on various analytical techniques such as TEM and EXAFS. Mechanism for charge transfer is proposed. The work will soon be submitted for evaluation to reputed journal.