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Solar-driven liquid multi-carbon fuel production using a standalone perovskite–BiVO4 artificial leaf

Author

Listed:
  • Motiar Rahaman

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Virgil Andrei

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Demelza Wright

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Erwin Lam

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Chanon Pornrungroj

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Subhajit Bhattacharjee

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Christian M. Pichler

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Heather F. Greer

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Jeremy J. Baumberg

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Erwin Reisner

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

The synthesis of high-energy-density liquid fuels from CO2 and H2O powered by sunlight has the potential to create a circular economy. Despite the progress in producing simple gaseous products, the construction of unassisted photoelectrochemical devices for liquid multi-carbon production remains a major challenge. Here we assembled artificial leaf devices by integrating an oxide-derived Cu94Pd6 electrocatalyst with perovskite–BiVO4 tandem light absorbers that couple CO2 reduction with water oxidation. The wired Cu94Pd6|perovskite–BiVO4 tandem device provides a Faradaic efficiency of ~7.5% for multi-carbon alcohols (~1:1 ethanol and n-propanol), whereas the wireless standalone device produces ~1 µmol cm−2 alcohols after 20 h unassisted operation under air mass 1.5 G irradiation with a rate of ~40 µmol h−1 gCu94Pd6−1. This study demonstrates the direct production of multi-carbon liquid fuels from CO2 over an artificial leaf and, therefore, brings us a step closer to using sunlight to generate value-added complex products.

Suggested Citation

  • Motiar Rahaman & Virgil Andrei & Demelza Wright & Erwin Lam & Chanon Pornrungroj & Subhajit Bhattacharjee & Christian M. Pichler & Heather F. Greer & Jeremy J. Baumberg & Erwin Reisner, 2023. "Solar-driven liquid multi-carbon fuel production using a standalone perovskite–BiVO4 artificial leaf," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(6), pages 629-638, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:8:y:2023:i:6:d:10.1038_s41560-023-01262-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-023-01262-3
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