Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol by Cu2O/SiC nanocrystallite under visible lig

The Cu2O/SiC photocatalyst was obtained from SiC nanoparticles(NPs)modified by Cu2O.Their photocatalytic activities for reducing CO2 to CH3OH under visible light irradiation have been investigated.The results indicated that besides a small quantity of 6H-SiC,SiC NPs mainly consisted of 3C-SiC.The band gaps of SiC and Cu2O were estimated to be about 1.95 and 2.23 eV from UV-Vis spectra,respectively.The Cu2O modification can enhance the photocatalytic performance of SiC NPs,and the largest yields of methanol on SiC,Cu2O and Cu2O/SiC photocatalysts under visible light irradiation were 153,104 and 191μmol/g,respectively.