CO2 to Liquid Fuels: Photocatalytic Conversion in a Continuous Membrane Reactor
The photocatalytic reduction of CO, into value-added chemicals using sunlight is a promising approach to promote energy-bearing products, mitigating the adverse effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In this work, exfoliated C3N4 was incorporated into Nafion matrix and used in a continuous photocatalytic reactor for converting CO2 into liquid fuels. Comprehensive structural and morphological diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), FT-IR, ATR-IR, and SEM measurements were performed for C3N4-loaded Nafion membrane and then compared with those of a Nafion membrane without any catalyst. The synergic effect of C3N4 organic catalyst embedded in a Nafion dense matrix and a continuous operating mo…
CO2 conversion in a photocatalytic continuous membrane reactor
The reduction of CO2 with water by using photocatalysts is one of the most promising new methods for achieving CO2 conversion to valuable hydrocarbons such as methanol (MeOH). In this work, prepared TiO2-Nafion (TM)-based membranes were used in a photocatalytic membrane reactor, operated in continuous mode, for converting CO2 to methanol. By using the membrane with the best TiO2 distribution, a MeOH flow rate/TiO2 weight of 45 mu mol (g(catalyst) h)(-1) was measured when operating at 2 bar of feed pressure. This value is higher than those reported in most of the literature data to date. Moreover, methanol production is considered as a relevant advance over the existing literature results wh…
CO2 reduction by C3N4-TiO2 Nafion photocatalytic membrane reactor as a promising environmental pathway to solar fuels
Abstract We investigated CO2 photocatalytic reduction coupling, for the first time in literature, the assets offered by the continuous operating mode using C3N4-TiO2 photo-catalyst embedded in a dense Nafion matrix. The reactor performance was analyzed under UV–vis light in terms of productivity, selectivity and converted carbon. Reaction pressure was specifically investigated for its effect as a “driver” in determining reactor performance, modulating products removal from the reaction volume. In addition, the membrane reactor performance was explored as a function of H2O/CO2 feed molar ratio and contact time. The higher feed pressure (5 bar) led to a lesser MeOH production and a greater am…
An Investigation into the Stability of Graphitic C 3 N 4 as a Photocatalyst for CO 2 Reduction
The increasing CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere exerts a significant influence on global warming and climate change. The capture and utilization of CO 2 by conversion to useful products is an area of active research. In this work, the photodriven reduction of CO 2 was investigated using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) as a potential photocatalyst. The photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 was investigated with g-C 3 N 4 powder immobilized on a glass support in a batch gas-phase photoreactor. The experiments were carried out under UV-vis irradiation at 70 °C and an initial pressure of 2.5 bar. The only gas-phase product detected during the irradiation of the g-C 3 N 4 in the presence of…