@article{Pan_Han_Zheng_Lu_Wang_Yin_Waterhouse_Wang_Li_2020, title={Highly Efficient Photoelectrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Methanol by a p–n Heterojunction CeO2/CuO/Cu Catalyst}, volume={12}, url={https://www.nmlett.org/index.php/nml/article/view/540}, DOI={10.1007/s40820-019-0354-1}, abstractNote={<p>Photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to fuels has great potential for reducing anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and also lessening our dependence on fossil fuel energy. Herein, we report the successful development of a novel photoelectrocatalytic catalyst for the selective reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to methanol, comprising a copper catalyst modified with flower-like cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO<sub>2</sub> NPs) (a n-type semiconductor) and copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) (a p-type semiconductor). At an applied potential of − 1.0&nbsp;V (vs SCE) under visible light irradiation, the CeO<sub>2</sub> NPs/CuO NPs/Cu catalyst yielded methanol at a rate of 3.44&nbsp;μmol&nbsp;cm<sup>−2</sup>&nbsp;h<sup>−1</sup>, which was approximately five times higher than that of a CuO NPs/Cu catalyst (0.67&nbsp;μmol&nbsp;cm<sup>−2</sup>&nbsp;h<sup>−1</sup>). The carrier concentration increased by ~ 10<sup>8</sup> times when the flower-like CeO<sub>2</sub> NPs were deposited on the CuO NPs/Cu catalyst, due to synergistic transfer of photoexcited electrons from the conduction band of CuO to that of CeO<sub>2</sub>, which enhanced both photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction on the CeO<sub>2</sub> NPs. The facile migration of photoexcited electrons and holes across the p–n heterojunction that formed between the CeO<sub>2</sub> and CuO components was thus critical to excellent light-induced CO<sub>2</sub> reduction properties of the CeO<sub>2</sub> NPs/CuO NPs/Cu catalyst. Results encourage the wider application of composite semiconductor electrodes in carbon dioxide reduction.</p> <p>Highlights:</p> <p>1 Flower-like CeO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles enhance the performance of CuO nanoparticle/Cu.<br>2 The system benefits from the heterojunction between p-type CuO and n-type CeO<sub>2</sub>.<br>3 The selective reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to methanol on the target catalyst is studied.</p>}, journal={Nano-Micro Letters}, author={Pan, Zhengbin and Han, Ershuan and Zheng, Jingui and Lu, Jing and Wang, Xiaolin and Yin, Yanbin and Waterhouse, Geoffrey I. N. and Wang, Xiuguo and Li, Peiqiang}, year={2020}, month={Jan.}, pages={18} }