Plasmon-induced carrier separation boosts high-selective photocatalytic CO2 reduction on dagger-axe-like Cu@Co core–shell bimetal

Abstract

Abstract Designing plasmonic catalysts capable of efficient and selective photocatalytic CO2 reduction is considerable important for future carbon energy utilization. Herein, among many plasmonic bimetals, dagger-axe-like Cu@Co core–shell bimetal exhibits excellent photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity. The incorporation of Co layer into a Cu matrix constructs a core–shell structure, which could increase the CO2 adsorption capacity of Cu, thus promoting faster CO2 adsorption/activation. The electronic coupling of Co and Cu can also cause rapid interfacial charge-transfer dynamics. Therefore, the Cu@Co sample exhibits enhanced catalytic activity for the reduction of CO2 to CO, and its CO production rate is 11043.33\xa0µmol\xa0g−1 without photosensitizer and cocatalyst. Furthermore, Cu@Co proved ultra-high CO selectivity (98%) and stability (48\xa0h). This work offers a simple strategy to finely construct a fresh type of plasmonic photocatalyst for photocatalytic CO2 reduction.