Core-shell engineered g-C₃N₄ @ NaNbO₃ for enhancing photocatalytic reduction of CO₂

Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide is a technology that effectively utilizes CO₂ and solar energy. Sodium niobate (NaNbO₃) has received much attention in the field of photocatalysis due to its excellent photocatalytic properties. However, the application of NaNbO₃ in the field of photocatalysis is still limited by poor reaction to visible light and easy recombination of photo-generated carriers. Heterojunction with g-C₃N₄ to construct core-shell structure can effectively improve the above problems. Combining the two can design a core-shell composite material that is beneficial for photocatalytic reduction of CO₂. Herein, we prepared a core-shell heterojunction g-C₃N₄/NaNbO₃ by uniformly impregnating urea on the surface of NaNbO₃ chromium nanofibers with NaNbO₃ nanofibers prepared by electrospinning as a catalyst carrier, and urea as a precursor of g-C₃N₄. The core-shell structure of g-C₃N₄/NaNbO₃ was verified by a series of characterization methods such as XPS, XRD, and TEM. It was found that under the same conditions, the methanol yield of core-shell g-C₃N₄/NaNbO₃ was 12.86 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹, which is twice that of pure NaNbO₃ (6.67 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹).