Engineering fast Ti electron channels to single-atom Fe for enhanced CO2 photoreduction

Abstract

Owing to the inertness of CO₂ molecules, the development of highly active photocatalysts for CO₂ reduction reactions (CO₂RR) remains a formidable challenge. Here, we designed an MXene-based single-atom Fe co-catalyst (Fe₁/Ti_3−xC₂T_y) featuring fast Ti–Fe electron channels to achieve enhanced CO₂RR performance. The synthesized Fe₁/Ti_3−xC₂T_y exhibited a CO yield of 259.0 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ without the addition of any organic sacrificial agents. The experimental and computational results reveal that, electrons transfer from Ti to Fe and then accumulate at the active sites, which facilitates the transfer of charges and enhances the activation of CO₂ molecules. This work provides a new direction of MXene-based non-noble-metal monoatomic catalysts for efficient photoreduction of CO₂ under gas–solid photocatalytic conditions with pure water.