In situ growth of cobalt on ultrathin Ti3C2Tx as an efficient cocatalyst of g-C3N4 for enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Photocatalytic CO 2 reduction to valuable product exhibit promising prospect for solving the energy crisis and the greenhouse effect. Herein, Co-Ti 3 C 2 T x /g-C 3 N 4 (Co-TC/CN) composite with enhanced photocatalytic performance for converting CO 2 to CO and CH 4 was constructed by electrostatic self-assembly method. The close contact interface between Co-Ti 3 C 2 T x and g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets can be used as fast transport channels of photogenerated electrons and effectively promote the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, and the interface between the Co and Ti 3 C 2 T x might be the active sites for CO 2 adsorption and activation. The optimized Co-Ti 3 C 2 T x /g-C 3 N 4 composite exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance with the CO and CH 4 production of 55.04 μmol·g –1 and 2.29 μmol·g –1 , respectively, which were 7.5 times and 5.9 times than those of g-C 3 N 4 . Furthermore, the stability of g-C 3 N 4 was improved after coupling with Co-Ti 3 C 2 T x .