"Nanotcomposites and nanomaterials"

Cu-contained layered double hydroxides for CO2 photoconversion
Starukh H.1, Moravec Z.2, Doroshenko I.2, Kejík M.2, Pinkas J.2, Koci K.3

1 Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry, NAS of Ukraine,
17 General Naumov Str., Kyiv 03164, Ukraine, starukh_galina@ukr.net
2 Department of Chemistry, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, CZ-6I1 37 Brno, Czech Republic
3Institute of Environmental Technology, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 33 Ostrava – Poruba, Czech Republic 

Photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into fuels has emerged as an attractive option, in terms of both reducing the increased concentration of atmospheric CO2 as well as generating renewable hydrocarbon fuels that can be directly supplied to the energy infrastructure. An enormous research effort is currently being directed towards the development of efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts for renewable energy applications including water splitting, CO2 reduction and alcohol photoreforming. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) - based photocatalysts have emerged as one of the most promising candidates to replace TiO2-based photocatalysts for these reactions, owing to their unique layered structure, compositional flexibility, strong CO2 sorption capacity, controllable particle size, low manufacturing cost and ease of synthesis [1]. A coupling of LDH nanosheets with Cu species is an effective strategy for improving the photocatalytic efficiency of LDH. Nanosized Cu2O has attracted a great deal of attention because it shows strong light absorption in the visible region. As a representative p-type semiconductor with a band gap of about 2.2 eV, copper (I) oxide have been widely used in solar energy conversion [2]. Тhe results on the synthesis and characterisation of Cu2O-contained Mg/Al, Zn/Al, Zn+Cu/Al LDH will be presented. The activity of obtained LDH in photocatalytical process of CO2 reduction will be compared.

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2. Uzunova E., Seriani N.,  Mikosch H. CO2 Conversion to Methanol on Cu(I) Oxide Nanolayers and Clusters: An Electronic Structure Insight into the Reaction Mechanism // Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. -2015.- 17, 11088– 11094.