On the Selectivity of Simultaneous CO(2) and N(2) Reduction Using TiO(2)/Carbon Sphere Photocatalysts Prepared by Microwave Treatment and Mounted on Silica Cloth

This paper presents new photocatalysts obtained by treating carbon spheres (CS) and TiO(2) in a microwave reactor at a pressure of 20 atm and a temperature of up to 300 °C for 15 min and then depositing TiO(2)/CS composites on glass fibre cloths. Such highly CO(2)-adsorbing photocatalysts showed photoactivity in the simultaneous water-splitting process, generating H(2), reducing CO(2) to CO and CH(4), and reducing N(2) to NH(3). In addition, calculations of the hydrogen balance involved in all reactions were performed. Adding 1 g of carbon spheres per 1 g of TiO(2) maintained the high selectivity of nitrogen fixation at 95.87–99.5%, which was continuously removed from the gas phase into the water as NH(4)(+) ions.