Selective Solar-Driven Reduction of CO sub(2) to Methanol Using a Catalyzed p-GaP Based Photoelectrochemical Cell

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 130; no. 20; pp. 6342 - 6344
• Main Authors: Rampulla, David M, Barton, Emily E, Bocarsly, Andrew B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2008
• ISSN: 1272-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/ja0776327

With rising atmospheric CO sub(2) levels, there has been increasing interest in artificial photosynthetic schemes for converting this greenhouse gas into valuable fuels and small organics. Photoelectrochemical schemes for activating the inert CO sub(2) molecule, however, operate at excessive overpotentials and thus do not convert actual light energy to chemical energy. Here we describe the selective conversion of CO sub(2) to methanol at a p-GaP semiconductor electrode with a homogeneous pyridinium ion catalyst, driving the reaction with light energy to yield faradaic efficiencies near 100% at potentials well below the standard potential.