An efficient Ag/MIL-100(Fe) catalyst for photothermal conversion of CO2 at ambient temperature

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.cclet.2021.04.007

The conversion of CO₂ under mild condition is of great importance because these reactions involving CO₂ can not only produce value-added chemicals from abundant and inexpensive CO₂ feedstock but also close the carbon cycle. However, the chemical inertness of CO₂ requires the development of high-performance catalysts. Herein, Ag nanoparticles/MIL-100(Fe) composites were synthesized by simple impregnation-reduction method and employed as catalysts for the photothermal carboxylation of terminal alkynes with CO₂. MIL-100(Fe) could stabilize Ag nanoparticles and prevent them from aggregation during catalytic process. Taking the advantages of photothermal effects and catalytic activities of both Ag nanoparticles and MIL-100(Fe), various aromatic alkynes could be converted to corresponding carboxylic acid products (86%–92% yields) with 1 atm CO₂ at room temperature under visible light irradiation when using Ag nanoparticles/MIL-100(Fe) as photothermal catalysts. The catalysts also showed good recyclability with almost no loss of catalytic activity for three consecutive runs. More importantly, the catalytic performance of Ag nanoparticles/MIL-100(Fe) under visible light irradiation at room temperature was comparable to that upon heating, showing that the light source could replace conventional heating method to drive the reaction. This work provided a promising strategy of utilizing solar energy for achieving efficient CO₂ conversion to value-added chemicals under mild condition.