An iron–nitrogen doped carbon and CdS hybrid catalytic system for efficient CO2 photochemical reduction

Abstract

Iron porphyrin and carbon black (CB) were utilized to fabricate an iron–nitrogen doped carbon (Fe–N–C) catalyst to create a new heterogeneous catalytic system with CdS to drive CO₂ reduction to CO under UV/vis light (AM 1.5G) irradiation. The system delivers a high CO production yield of 111 mmol g_cat⁻¹ and a large turnover number (TON) of 1.22 × 10³ in 8 h with a selectivity of 85%, all of which are competitive with state-of-the-art systems. The mechanism of the system was investigated by experimental and theoretical methods indicating that the high affinity between the iron active center and the *COOH intermediate facilitates the brilliant catalytic performance. This work provides a new direction for constructing heterogeneous CO₂ photoreduction systems.