Atomic Interface Engineering of Single‐Atom Pt/TiO2‐Ti3C2 for Boosting Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract

AbstractSolar‐driven CO2 conversion into valuable fuels is a promising strategy to alleviate the energy and environmental issues. However, inefficient charge separation and transfer greatly limits the photocatalytic CO2 reduction efficiency. Herein, single‐atom Pt anchored on 3D hierarchical TiO2‐Ti3C2 with atomic‐scale interface engineering is successfully synthesized through an in situ transformation and photoreduction method. The in situ growth of TiO2 on Ti3C2 nanosheets can not only provide interfacial driving force for the charge transport, but also create an atomic‐level charge transfer channel for directional electron migration. Moreover, the single‐atom Pt anchored on TiO2 or Ti3C2 can effectively capture the photogenerated electrons through the atomic interfacial PtO bond with shortened charge migration distance, and simultaneously serve as active sites for CO2 adsorption and activation. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of the atomic interface engineering of single‐atom Pt and interfacial TiOTi, the optimized photocatalyst exhibits excellent CO2‐to‐CO conversion activity of 20.5 µmol g−1 h−1 with a selectivity of 96%, which is five times that of commercial TiO2 (P25). This work sheds new light on designing ideal atomic‐scale interface and single‐atom catalysts for efficient solar fuel conversation.