Cobalt Phosphide Cocatalysts Coated With Porous N-Doped Carbon Layers For Photocatalytic Co2 Reduction

Cobalt phosphide (CoP) has been demonstrated as a cocatalyst for visible-light-sensitized CO2 reduction, but just with moderate selectivity, due to the competitive H-2 generation reaction. Herein, the porous N-doped carbon (NC) layer is in situ coated on the surface of CoP nanoparticles to fabricate the core-shell CoP@NC composite cocatalyst. Benefiting from the outstanding electric conductivity and high surface area of the NC shell, the CoP@NC hybrid attains strengthened capabilities for charge separation/transfer and CO2 capture/activation. Besides, the direct contact of CoP with H2O is prevented by the porous NC shell with high hydrophobicity. Consequently, the photosensitized CO2-to-CO conversion efficiency and selectivity of CoP@NC hybrid are enhanced by 2.7 and 2.4 times, respectively, compared to bare CoP.