Fabrication of ultrafine ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles for efficient photocatalytic reduction CO₂ under visible light illumination

Jun Xiao^1,2，Weiyi Yang¹，Shuang Gao³，Caixia Sun^4,5，Qi Li¹

1. Environment Functional Materials Division,Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science,Institute of Metal Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences3. Division of Energy and Environment,Graduate School at Shenzhen,Tsinghua University4. Key Laboratory of New Metallic Functional Materials and Advanced Surface Engineering in Universities of Shandong,Qingdao Binhai University5. School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering,Qingdao Binhai University

摘 要：A one-pot, solvent-thermal process was used to create the ultrafine ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles photocatalyst.During the solvent-thermal process, the in situ self-forming NaCl not only served as a "cage" to confine the ion diffusion, but also acted as a microreactor for nanocrystallite growth. An average particle size of ～10 nm and a high-specific surface area of～112.9 m²/g were observed for the ultrafine ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles Owing to the synergistic effect of ultrafine particle size, the full utilization of the visible light region and high conduction band（CB） position, ultrafine ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalyst displayed an efficient photocatalytic CO₂ reduction under visible light illumination. Besides, the ultrafine ZnFe₂ O₄ photocatalyst showed high production selectivity for CH₃CHO and C₂H₅OH generation in aqueous CO₂/NaHCO₃ solution. This work may provide a new idea for the synthesis of new high-efficiency photocatalysts.

关键词：