Defect-phase engineered NiTi-TiO<sub>2</sub> enabling near-unity selective photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub>-to-methanol conversion.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40846854.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-63179-7 and PMC identifier 12373805.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Scaling up methanol yields by artificial photosynthesis at a modest cost remains thermodynamically challenge. Designing concerted reaction sites to control intermediate evolution and stimulate proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is necessary. Here we show a nickel-titanium-based catalyst that achieves near-millimolar hourly methanol yields with 99.79% selectivity and a solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency of 2.23%. This catalyst is synthesized through one-step etching of NiTi-layered double hydroxide, which generates abundant unsaturated sites, along with the in-situ formation of amorphous TiO<sub>2</sub>. Revealed by in-situ characterizations, these defect-rich units effectively suppress the formation of undesirable carbonate while promoting the favorable *COOH intermediate. Furthermore, theoretical simulations confirm this *COOH boost facilitates the production of *CO and accelerates the PCET steps. This work significantly advances efficient methanol production by artificial photosynthesis and offers fundamental insights into controlling reaction pathways for renewable fuel synthesis.