Highly Efficient Photocatalytic System Constructed from CoP/Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene for Visible-Light-Driven CO Reduction

Visible-light-driven conversion of CO to CO and high-value-added carbon products is a promising strategy for mitigating CO emissions and reserving solar energy in chemical form. We report an efficient system for CO transformation to CO catalyzed by bare CoP, hybrid CoP/carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and CoP/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in mixed aqueous solutions containing a Ru-based photosensitizer, under visible-light irradiation. The in situ prepared hybrid catalysts CoP/CNT and CoP/rGO show excellent catalytic activities in CO reduction to CO, with a catalytic rates of up to 39 510 and 47 330 μmol h  g in the first 2 h of reaction, respectively; a high CO selectivity of 73.1 % for the former was achieved in parallel competing reactions in the photoreduction of CO and H O. A combination of experimental and computational studies clearly shows that strong interactions between CoP and carbon-supported materials and partially adsorbed H O molecules on the catalyst surface significantly improve CO-generating rates.