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New insight into ZnO@ZIFs composite: an efficient photocatalyst with boosted light response ability and stability for CO2 reduction

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Abstract

One of the main causes of climate change and energy exhaustion is the excessive use of fossil fuels. Photocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction technology uses inexhaustible sunlight to directly convert CO2 into value-added chemicals or fuels not only solving the problem of greenhouse effect but also alleviating the shortage of fossil energy. In this work, a well-integrated photocatalyst is synthesized through growing zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) with different metal nodes on ZnO nanofiber (NFs) for CO2 reduction. One-dimensional (1D) ZnO NFs have better CO2 conversion efficiency due to the high surface-to-volume ratio and low light reflectivity. 1D nanomaterials with superior aspect ratios can be assembled into free-standing flexible membranes. In addition, it has been found that ZIFs nanomaterials with bimetallic nodes not only have better CO2 reduction capabilities but also exhibit superior thermal and water stability. The photocatalytic CO2 conversion efficiency and selectivity of ZnO@ZCZIF are shown to be significantly enhanced which can be attribute to the strong CO2 adsorption/activation, efficient light capture, excellent electron–hole pair separation efficiency, and specific metal Lewis sites. This work provides insights into the rational construction of well-integrated composite materials to improve the photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction performance.

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Data availability

All data and materials generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article and its supplementary information file.

Abbreviations

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

ZIFs:

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks

NFs:

Nanofiber

1D:

One-dimensional

MOF:

Metal-organic framework

CO:

Carbon monoxide

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

FTIR:

Fourier transform infrared spectrometer

XPS:

X-ray photoelectron spectra

FE-SEM:

Thermal field scanning electron microscopy

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

BET:

N2 adsorption–desorption

TGA:

Thermogravimetric analysis

UV-vis:

Ultraviolet-visible

DRS:

Diffusion reflectance spectra

PL:

Spectrophotometer

EIS:

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

TPC:

Transient photocurrent response

TEOA:

Triethanol amine

EDS:

Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

VB-XPS:

Valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

CB:

Conduction band

WCA:

Water contact angle

QDs:

Semiconductor quantum dots

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Funding

This work was supported by the Application Foundation Frontier Project of Wuhan Science and Technology Bureau (2020010601012194), the Scientific Research Plan Project of Education Department of Hubei (D20181702, Q20151605). The authors thank “Wuhan Engineering Technology Research Center for Advanced Fibers” for providing partial support for materials processing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Textile Fiber and Products, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China

    Ran Zhao, Qin Cheng & Ming Xia

  2. School of Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China

    Ran Zhao, Yahui Nie, Junyi Liu, Yuxi Wang & Ningbo Li

Authors
  1. Ran Zhao
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  2. Yahui Nie
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  3. Junyi Liu
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  4. Yuxi Wang
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  5. Ningbo Li
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  6. Qin Cheng
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  7. Ming Xia
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Ran Zhao, Yahui Nie, Junyi Liu, Yuxi Wang, Ningbo Li, Qin Cheng, and Ming Xia. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ran Zhao and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ran Zhao.

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Zhao, R., Nie, Y., Liu, J. et al. New insight into ZnO@ZIFs composite: an efficient photocatalyst with boosted light response ability and stability for CO2 reduction. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 82672–82685 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28190-9

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