Reinforced photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO by a ternary metal oxide NiCo2O4.

The work reported herein was the facile preparation of uniform urchin-like NiCo2O4 microspheres, and their use as an efficient and stable cocatalyst for photocatalytic CO2 reduction catalysis. A combined solvothermal-calcination strategy was applied to synthesize the NiCo2O4 material that was systematically characterized by physical and chemical measurements (e.g. SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, EDX, elemental mapping and N2 physisorption analysis). By cooperation with a visible light photosensitizer, the NiCo2O4 material effectively promoted the deoxygenative reduction of CO2 to CO by more than twenty times under mild reaction conditions. The carbon origin of CO evolution was validated by (13)CO2 isotope tracer experiments. Various reaction parameters were examined and optimized, and a possible reaction mechanism was proposed. Furthermore, the stability and reusability of NiCo2O4 cocatalysts were firmly confirmed.