Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 1:276:121501.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.121501. Epub 2025 Mar 29.

Switching CO2 reduction selectivity in Cu-TiO2 catalysts: Role of Cu+ site location and oxygen vacancy concentration

Yuhan Ji  1 , Haotong Ma  1 , Honglei Shao  1 , Zhanshuo Tao  1 , Wenchao Wang  2 , Yingchun Miao  3 , Shuning Xiao  4
Affiliations

Switching CO2 reduction selectivity in Cu-TiO2 catalysts: Role of Cu+ site location and oxygen vacancy concentration

Yuhan Ji et al. Environ Res. .

Abstract

Efficient conversion of CO2 into valuable chemicals such as CH4 under mild conditions is a significant challenge due to the high thermodynamic and kinetic barriers associated with multi-electron transfer reactions. In this study, we present a microwave-assisted strategy for the synthesis of Cu-doped, oxygen vacancy (Ov)-enriched TiO2 nanotubes (C-CT) that stabilize both bulk and surface Cu+ species. These photocatalysts exhibit a remarkable CH4 production rate of 202.1 μmol g-1 h-1 under simulated sunlight, with an outstanding electron selectivity of 99 %. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the synergistic interaction between Cu+ sites and oxygen vacancies enhances charge separation, stabilizes critical reaction intermediates, and facilitates the eight-electron reduction pathway for selective CH4 production. This work offers a sustainable approach to CO2 utilization, helping to overcome the thermodynamic and kinetic barriers in CO2 photoreduction. Such efficient photocatalysts have the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and promote environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Cu doping; Defect engineering; Oxygen vacancies; Photocatalytic CO(2) reduction; TiO(2) nanotubes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Shuning Xiao reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Shuning Xiao reports financial support was provided by Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

LinkOut - more resources