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Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide by titanium oxide-based semiconductors to produce fuels

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Abstract

To tackle the crisis of global warming, it is imperative to control and mitigate the atmospheric carbon dioxide level. Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide into solar fuels furnishes a gratifying solution to utilize and reduce carbon dioxide emission and simultaneously generate renewable energy to sustain the societies. So far, titanium oxide-based semiconductors have been the most prevalently adopted catalysts in carbon dioxide photoreduction. This mini-review provides a general summary of the recent progresses in titanium oxide-catalyzed photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide. It first illustrates the use of structural engineering as a strategy to adjust and improve the catalytic performances. Then, it describes the introduction of one/two exogenous elements to modify the photocatalytic activity and/or selectivity. Lastly, it discusses multi-component hybrid titanium oxide composites.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the State Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21436007 and 51472159).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Xi Chen & Fangming Jin

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Fangming Jin

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  1. Xi Chen
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Correspondence to Fangming Jin.

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Chen, X., Jin, F. Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide by titanium oxide-based semiconductors to produce fuels. Front. Energy 13, 207–220 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-019-0628-9

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