Plasmon-Enhanced CO2 Reduction to Liquid Fuel via Modified UiO-66 Photocatalysts

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as versatile materials with remarkably high surface areas and tunable properties, attracting significant attention for various applications. In this work, the modification of a UiO-66 MOF with metal nanoparticles (NPs) is investigated for the purpose of enhancing its photocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction to liquid fuels. Several NPs (Au, Cu, Ag, Pd, Pt, and Ni) were loaded into the UiO-66 framework and employed as photocatalysts. The synergistic effects of plasmonic resonance and MOF characteristics were investigated to improve photocatalytic performance. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), confirming the successful integration of metal NPs onto the UiO-66 framework. Morphological analysis revealed distinct distributions and sizes of NPs on the UiO-66 surface for different metals. Photocatalytic CO2 reduction experiments demonstrated enhanced activity of plasmonic MOFs, yielding methanol and ethanol. The findings revealed by this study provide valuable insights into tailoring MOFs for improved photocatalytic applications through the incorporation of plasmonic metal nanoparticles.