Synthesis of hierarchical ZnV2O6 nanosheets with enhanced activity and stability for visible light driven CO2 reduction to solar fuels

Abstract

Hierarchical nanostructures have lately garnered enormous attention because of their remarkable performances in energy storage and catalysis applications. In this study, novel hierarchical ZnV 2 O 6 nanosheets, formulated by one-step solvothermal method, for enhanced photocatalytic CO 2 reduction with H 2 O to solar fuels has been investigated. The structure and properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, BET, UV–vis, Raman and PL spectroscopy. The hierarchical ZnV 2 O 6 nanosheets show excellent performance towards photoreduction of CO 2 with H 2 O to CH 3 OH, CH 3 COOH and HCOOH under visible light. The main product yield, CH 3 OH of 3253.84 µmol g-cat -1 was obtained over ZnV 2 O 6 , 3.4 times the amount of CH 3 OH produced over the ZnO/V 2 O 5 composite (945.28 µmol g-cat -1 ). In addition, CH 3 OH selectivity of 39.96% achieved over ZnO/V 2 O 5 , increased to 48.78% in ZnV 2 O 6 nanosheets. This significant improvement in photo-activity over ZnV 2 O 6 structure was due to hierarchical structure with enhanced charge separation by V 2 O 5 . The obtained ZnV 2 O 6 hierarchical nanosheets exhibited excellent photocatalytic stability for selective CH 3 OH production.