Dual-atom-site Cu@PCN photocatalyst selectively produces ethane from CO2 reduction†

Copper-based catalysts have been considered as the most promising candidates in the solar-driven catalytic reduction of CO₂ to value-added chemicals, but their catalytic performance encounters intrinsic limitations in the precise construction of copper catalytic active sites. This work employed the well-defined Cu₂Cl₂-bpy (bpy = 4,4′-bipyridine) as the precursor and fabricated a dual atom site Cu photocatalyst on polymeric carbon nitride (DAS-Cu@PCN) with a distance between dual Cu atoms of ∼2.8 Å. The PCN substrate enhances the stability of double Cu catalytic sites, and the appropriate Cu–Cu spacing effectively promotes the C–C coupling, which greatly improves the performance of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. Our findings provide valuable guidelines for the atom precise photocatalyst design toward highly efficient photocatalytic CO₂ conversion to high value-added carbon products.