Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 60: Poster Session IV (Solid/liquid interfaces; Semiconductors; Oxides and insulators; Graphene; Plasmonics and nanooptics; Electronic Structure; Surface chemical reactions; Heterogeneous catalysis)

O 60.18: Poster

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 17:30–21:00, P4

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction on dye sensitized TiO₂ — •Leo Pöttinger¹ and Thomas Bürgi² — ¹Im Neuenheimer Feld 253, D- 69117 Heidelberg — ²30 Quai Ernest-Ansermet, CH-1211 Genève 4

Reducing the greenhouse gas CO₂ and substituting fossil fuels are challenging tasks for the future. The photocatalytic recycling of CO₂ to hydrocarbons with sunlight as renewable energy is therefore investigated. Attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy was used to probe a thin layer of porous TiO₂. In the first step "in-situ" adsorption experiments of CO₂ and dyes with exposure to UV and visible light were performed. Furthermore metal co-catalysts were added to enhance the photocatalytic activity. The ATR-IR measurements show stable carbonates on the TiO₂ nanoparticles after purging the CO₂ saturated aqueous solution with pure water. After irradiation with UV light the carbonate bands vanish. The same characteristics can be observed with dye sensitized TiO₂ and visible light exposure. The increase of new bands could be a hint of intermediate products in the multiple electron process towards methanole.