Porous hypercrosslinked polymer-TiO(2)-graphene composite photocatalysts for visible-light-driven CO(2) conversion

Significant efforts have been devoted to develop efficient visible-light-driven photocatalysts for the conversion of CO(2) to chemical fuels. The photocatalytic efficiency for this transformation largely depends on CO(2) adsorption and diffusion. However, the CO(2) adsorption on the surface of photocatalysts is generally low due to their low specific surface area and the lack of matched pores. Here we report a well-defined porous hypercrosslinked polymer-TiO(2)-graphene composite structure with relatively high surface area i.e., 988 m(2) g(−1) and CO(2) uptake capacity i.e., 12.87 wt%. This composite shows high photocatalytic performance especially for CH(4) production, i.e., 27.62 μmol g(−1) h(−1), under mild reaction conditions without the use of sacrificial reagents or precious metal co-catalysts. The enhanced CO(2) reactivity can be ascribed to their improved CO(2) adsorption and diffusion, visible-light absorption, and photo-generated charge separation efficiency. This strategy provides new insights into the combination of microporous organic polymers with photocatalysts for solar-to-fuel conversion.