Photoelectrodes of Cu²O with interfacial structure of topological insulator Bi²Se³contributes to selective photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO²towards methanol

Artificial photosynthesis emerges as feasible solution to diminish CO²content in the atmosphere. Photoelectrocatalysis can diminish CO²concentration while generating useful resources such as methanol. Here an alternative multilayer photoelectrode of FTO/Cu/Bi²Se³-Se/Cu²O is developed to enhance selective reduction of CO2 towards methanol. A novel electrosynthetic approach is described as strategy to modulate the atomic composition of p-type bismuth selenide chalcogenide intralayer. This method enhanced performance and selectivity of n-type Cu2O photoelectrocatalysts. Alkaline pH conditions favored yield and selectivity towards methanol production from CO². The formation of an n-p heterojunction affects the Cu^2Operformance on CO²reduction. The novel engineered FTO/Cu/Bi²Se³-Se/Cu²O multilayer photoelectrodes allowed obtaining up to 4.5mM of methanol, which correspond to 3-fold higher concentration than conventional FTO/Cu2O electrodes reported in literature. Photoelectrodes of FTO/ Cu/Bi²Se³-Se/Cu²O overperform conventional Cu2O in terms of kinetics and selectivity towards methanol production.