Investigation of different ratio of CuCe catalysts applied in photothermal reverse water gas shift reaction

The photothermal catalytic reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) can convert CO₂ into other high-value-added chemical resources under mild conditions. However, the design and development of high-performance catalysts is a major challenge. In this work, different proportions of CuCe bimetallic catalysts were synthesized using the sol-gel method and applied to RWGS. Under the visible light heat catalytic condition at 450 ℃, the CO yield can be increased by about 20 % compared to thermal catalysis, which is better than most metal-based catalysts reported in the literature. Moreover, the catalyst exhibited good stability and reusability, with the primary factor affecting the stability of the CuCe catalyst being the growth of Cu nanoparticles. The characterization shows that at Cu/Ce=1, the separation efficiency of electron-hole separation is the highest, and the hot electrons generated by the LSPR effect of Cu can be effectively separated and transferred, producing more oxygen vacancies and suitable alkaline sites, so it has the best photothermal catalytic performance. Furthermore, the catalyst is dominated by the formate pathway under light conditions, and this work provides a new RWGS strategy.