Incorporation of Metal Active Sites on Porous Polycarbazoles for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract

Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to valuable products is one of the promising approaches to mitigate climate change and provide chemical fuels. The structural design of photocatalysts has been therefore directed to enhancing the CO2 conversion efficiency and selectivity. Herein, we report that the metalated porous polycarbazoles, made by facile one-pot oxidative polymerization and successive transition metal impregnation, can effectively convert CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO) with high selectivity under visible light irradiation. The high porosity of the porous polycarbazoles provides enhanced CO2 adsorption and the incorporated metals facilitate the CO2 activation. The type of metal ions influences the CO selectivity by altering surface reaction kinetics for CO2 reduction. Our approach proves that the photocatalytic CO2 reduction ability and selectivity of porous conjugated polymers can be improved by decorating functional metal species to modulate the adsorption and activation behavior of CO2 molecules.