CO2 Fixation by SiO2@TiO2 nanoparticles decorated with Iron Ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue) and Ruthenium Ferrocyanide: Toward high Sustainability of Biorefineries and Ammonia Synthesis Plants.

Abstract

In this project we aim to prepare new nanostructured photocatalyst for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2, in order to convert this industrial waste in value-added products. CO2 is a sub product of two industrial processes of great relevance to the national economy, the biorefineries and the steam reforming plants coupled to ammonia production, and its reuse can enhance the sustainability of these processes. The proposed photocatalysts are based on the combination of the semiconductor oxide TiO2 and the hexacyanomelates Iron Ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue) and Ruthenium Ferrocyanide. While the versatile sol-gel chemistry will be applied to prepare core-shell nanoparticles SiO2@N-TiO2, the Prussian Blue-type co-catalysts will be incorporated specifically on the TiO2 surface by the photodeposition method. The prepared materials will be characterized by different spectroscopic techniques and tested for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2. We believe that the development of this project can promote advances regarding the efficiency of the photo-assisted CO2 conversion processes, as well the better comprehension of some their fundamental aspects. We intend to understand how the chemistry, structure and morphology of the obtained materials reflect on their photocatalytic activity.