Green Syngas Production from Natural Lignin, Sunlight, and Water over Pt‐Decorated InGaN Nanowires

Abstract

AbstractTransformation of lignin to syngas can turn waste into treasure yet remains a tremendous challenge because of its naturally evolved stubborn structure. In this work, light‐driven reforming of natural lignin in water for green syngas production is explored using Pt‐decorated InGaN nanowires. The spectroscopic characterizations, isotope, and model compound experiments, as well as density function theory calculation, disclose that among a variety of groups including aromatic ring, −OH, −OCH3, −C3H7 with complex chemical bonds of O−H, C−H, C−C, C−O, etc., InGaN nanowires are cooperative with Pt for preferably breaking the C−O bond of the rich O−CH3 group in lignin to liberating ⋅CH3 by photogenerated holes with a minimum dissociation energy of 2.33 eV. Syngas are subsequently yielded from the continuous evolution of ⋅CH3 and ⋅OH from photocatalytic reforming of lignin in water. Together with the superior optoelectronic attributes of Pt‐decorated InGaN nanowires, the evolution rate of syngas approaches 43.4 mol ⋅ g−1 ⋅ h−1 with tunable H2/CO ratios and a remarkable turnover number (TON) of 150, 543 mol syngas per mol Pt. Notably, the architecture demonstrates a high light efficiency of 12.1 % for syngas generation under focused light without any extra thermal input. Outdoor test ascertains the viability of producing syngas with the only inputs of natural lignin, water, and sunlight, thus presenting a low‐carbon route for synthesizing transportation fuels and value‐added chemicals.