Tuning CO2 conversion product selectivity of metal organic frameworks derived hybrid carbon photoelectrocatalytic reactors

Photo/electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), has potential to address the adverse environmental impact of global warming. However, it is challenging to control the reactions to yield a specific product, and most catalyst produce a mixture of product that may include methanol, carbon monoxide (CO), methane among others. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) derived carbon catalysts have potential to facilitate selective CO 2 conversion, owing to their regular microporous structure, in addition to enhanced chemical stability and electrical conductivity as compared to the precursor MOFs. However, there are no established techniques for immobilizing these catalysts directly on the surface a conductive substrate, without the need of polymer adhesives. Here, MOF-derived hybrid carbon photoelectrocatalytic reactors were successfully fabricated on the surface of macroporous metal support, by direct carbonization of the metal supported MOF membranes. The carbonization resulted in a dramatic improvement in electrocatalytic performance, with samples carbonized at 700 °C producing up to 9 times higher methanol yield as compared to non-carbonized membranes. The product selectivity could also be tuned from methanol, to CO or a mixture of both, by switching between electrocatalysis and photocatalysis. This work opens route for the development of robust metal supported carbonized MOF-based catalysts, for energy conversion applications.