Synthesis and photocatalytic CO(2) reduction performance of aminated coal-based carbon nanoparticles

To obtain high-efficiency, low-cost, environmentally friendly carbon-based photocatalytic material, we synthesized coal-based carbon dots with sp(2) carbon structure and multilayer graphene lattice structure by the hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) oxidation method to strip nano-scale crystalline carbon in the coal structure and link with oxygen-containing groups such as the hydroxyl group. N, S co-doped aminated coal-based carbon nanoparticles (NH(2)-CNPs) were then obtained by thionyl chloride chlorination and ethylenediamine passivation. The physical properties and chemical structure of the synthesized NH(2)-CNPs were studied and the photocatalytic CO(2) reduction performance was tested. The results show that NH(2)-CNPs are vesicle-type spherical particles with particle size of 42.16 ± 7.5 nm and have a mesoporous structure that is capable of adsorbing CO(2). A defect structure was formed on the surface of the NH(2)-CNPs due to the doping of N and S elements, thereby significantly improving the ability to photogenerate electrons under visible light along with the ability to efficiently separate the photo-generated carriers. The photocatalytic reduction products of CO(2) over NH(2)-CNPs were CH(3)OH, CO, C(2)H(5)OH, H(2) and CH(4). After 10 hours of reaction, the total amount of products was 807.56 μmol g(−1) cat, the amount of CH(3)OH was 618.7 μmol g(−1) cat, and the calculated selectivity for conversion of CO(2) to CH(3)OH was up to 76.6%.