Low-temp photocatalyst could slash the carbon footprint for syngas

Science Daily  January 10, 2020 Traditional thermocatalytic processes to produce syngas require high temperatures and suffer from coke-induced instability. A team of researchers in the US (Rice University, Princeton University, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara) has developed a plasmonic photocatalyst consisting of a Cu nanoparticle ‘antenna’ with single-Ru atomic ‘reactor’ sites on the nanoparticle surface, ideal for low-temperature, light-driven methane dry reforming. This catalyst provides high light energy efficiency when illuminated at room temperature. In contrast to thermocatalysis, long-term stability (50 h) and high selectivity (>99%) were achieved in photocatalysis. This photocatalyst design could be relevant for future energy-efficient industrial processes…read more. […]