Activated carbon-boosted BiOI in CO2 adsorption and electron transfer for photothermally catalyzed CO2 oxidative dehydrogenation of propane

CO2 oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (CO2-ODHP) not only meets the current "propylene gap between supply and demand", but also utilizes the waste CO2 resource, which is a green, environmentally friendly, netcarbon, and energy-saving route to synthesize propylene. In the present work, BiOI/activated carbon catalysts (BiOI/AC) were prepared and applied in the CO2-ODHP via a photothermal catalysis route. In particular, a 40 wt % BiOI/AC catalyst achieved an excellent catalytic performance at a low temperature of 300 degrees C, and its C3H6 formation activity is 90 and 9 times higher than those under sole photo- and thermal conditions, respectively. Characterization results confirmed that the introduction of AC not only can improve the adsorption capacity of C3H8 and CO2, but also serve as a light absorber to increase the local temperature under irradiation, thereby improving the catalytic performance. Besides, the incorporation of AC reduces the band gap of BiOI, and thus is conducive to the effective separation of electron-hole pairs, which makes the catalyst having high activity and selectivity in the photothermal CO2-ODHP reaction. The present work offers a promising approach to photothermal CO2 oxidative dehydrogenation of propylene.