Localized surface plasmon resonance effect enhanced Cu/TiO2 core–shell catalyst for boosting CO2 hydrogenation reaction

Photothermal catalysis is a promising strategy for converting CO2 into high value-added chemical feedstocks. Its current major challenges lie in improving CO2 conversion efficiency and product selectivity. In this work, a series of Cu/TiO2 core–shell catalysts were prepared using the hard template method. The Cu10/TiO2 catalyst exhibited excellent performance for the photothermal conversion of CO2 to CO in the presence of H2 under Xe lamp irradiation (CO2 conversion, 30.6%; CO selectivity, ∼100%; CO maximum yield, 87.1 mmol h−1 gcat−1). Results indicated that the Cu/TiO2 catalyst has a good photo-to-thermal conversion ability based on the significant LSPR effect, and the existence of hot electrons makes the reaction follow the carbonate pathway efficiently. This article successfully achieves efficient CO2 reduction under inexpensive and non-toxic conditions. In addition, it also provides unique insights into the study of the LSPR effect in the field of photothermal catalysis.