Surface Engineered CuO Nanowires with ZnO Islands for CO₂ Photoreduction

Large arrays of massively parallel (10(8) cm(-2)) CuO nanowires were surface engineered with dense ZnO islands using a few pulsed cycles of atomic layer deposition (ALD). These nanowires were subjected to UV-vis radiation-based CO2 photoreduction under saturated humidity (CO2 + H2O mixture) conditions. We monitored CO2 to CO conversion, indicating the viability of these nanostructures as potential photocatalysts. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy indicated an island growth mechanism of ZnO epitaxially depositing on pristine, single crystal CuO nanowire surface. Photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy showed a very high density of defects on these ZnO islands which trapped electrons and enhanced their lifetimes. Peak CO conversion (1.98 mmol/g-cat/hr) and quantum efficiency (0.0035%) were observed in our setup when the ZnO islands impinged each other at 1.4 nm (8 cycles of ALD) diameter; at which point ZnO island perimeter lengths maximized as well. A mechanism whereby simultaneous H2O oxidation and CO2 reduction occurred in the active perimeter region between CuO nanowire and ZnO islands is proposed to explain the observed photoconversion of CO2 to CO.