Carbon nanoparticles as visible-light photocatalysts for efficient CO2 conversion and beyond.

Increasing atmospheric CO(2) levels have generated much concern, driving the ongoing carbon sequestration effort. A compelling CO(2) sequestration option is its photocatalytic conversion to hydrocarbons, for which the use of solar irradiation represents an ultimate solution. Here we report a new strategy of using surface-functionalized small carbon nanoparticles to harvest visible photons for subsequent charge separation on the particle surface in order to drive the efficient photocatalytic process. The aqueous solubility of the catalysts enables photoreduction under more desirable homogeneous reaction conditions. Beyond CO(2) conversion, the nanoscale carbon-based photocatalysts are also useful for the photogeneration of H(2) from water under similar conditions.