Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Hydrocarbon

Carbon nitride

Photocatalysis

Composite number

Electron transfer

Engineering

Catalysis

Carbon fibers

Composite material

Chemistry

Materials science

Nitride

Graphitic carbon nitride

Layer (electronics)

Chemical engineering

Photochemistry

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

The light-driven CO2 reduction to multi-carbon products is especially meaningful, while the low efficiency of multi-electron transfer and sluggish C-C coupling greatly hinder its development. Herein, we report a photocatalyst comprising of P and Cu dual sites anchored on graphitic carbon nitride (P/Cu SAs@CN), which achieves a high C2 H6 evolution rate of 616.6 μmol g-1 h-1 in reducing CO2 to hydrocarbons. The detailed spectroscopic characterizations identify the formation of charge-enriched Cu sites, where the isolated P atoms serve as hole capture sites during photocatalysis. Theoretical simulations combined with in situ FTIR measurement reveal a kinetically feasible process for the formation of C-C coupling intermediate (*OC-COH) and confirm the favorable production of C2 H6 on the P/Cu SAs@CN photocatalyst. This work offers new insights into the photocatalyst design with atomic precision toward highly efficient photocatalytic CO2 conversion to high value-added carbon products.

P and Cu Dual Sites on Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Photocatalytic CO2Reduction to Hydrocarbon Fuels with High C2H6Evolution