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Iron Oxide Nanostructures for the Reduction of Bicarbonate to Solar Fuels

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Abstract

In this study, iron(III) oxide with different sizes and morphologies were synthesized, characterized, and compared for their photocatalytic efficiency in the reduction of bicarbonate to formic acid. The four different Fe2O3 species selected for comparison were micron- and nano-particulate Fe2O3, goethite (α-FeOOH), and Fe2O3 wires. Within the set of four morphologies, we found that Fe2O3 wires possessed a significantly greater surface area. Consequently, this high-surface area wire morphology yielded the highest apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 5.59 ± 0.2%. When the photocatalytic efficiency of Fe2O3 was compared to commercial P25 TiO2, it was found that the AQE of Fe2O3 wires was three times greater than P25 TiO2. This work presents the first study of Fe2O3 structures in the photo-reduction of bicarbonate to formate, yielding ultra-high photon conversion efficiency to a value-added product.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge NSF award # IIA-1301346 for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, 87801, USA

    Hanqing Pan, Kristian R. Martindale & Michael D. Heagy

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  1. Hanqing Pan
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  2. Kristian R. Martindale
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  3. Michael D. Heagy
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Correspondence to Michael D. Heagy.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

The authors dedicate this article in memoriam to Dr. George Andrew Olah for his many inspirational contributions to chemistry and his scientific leadership bequeathed on a global scale to future generations. The advent of his more recently published books such as, Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy, is largely responsible for the inspiration and findings reported in this article.

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Pan, H., Martindale, K.R. & Heagy, M.D. Iron Oxide Nanostructures for the Reduction of Bicarbonate to Solar Fuels. Top Catal 61, 601–609 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-018-0959-5

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