Journal article
Pd–Bi Bimetallic Alloy on ZIF-8-Derived ZnO Semiconductor for Accelerated Photocatalytic CO2 to Methanol Production
Energy & fuels, v 40(18), pp 10184-10198
07 May 2026
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
We report a robust Pd–Bi nanoalloy integrated with distorted polyhedral ZnO derived from ZIF-8 for efficient photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol. The hybrid catalyst, denoted Pd x Bi1–x /ZnO (PBZ), delivers a promising methanol yield of 1984 μmol g–1 with an AQY of 0.87% under 4 h of simulated solar irradiation using water as the electron donor, nearly twice that of pristine ZIF-8-derived ZnO. HR-TEM and HAADF-STEM confirm uniformly dispersed monoclinic Pd–Bi nanoalloys with controlled size evolution governed by the reduction potential disparity of the Pd and Bi precursors. PL and EPR analyses reveal that alloy incorporation suppresses electron–hole recombination and modulates ZnO surface defect states. XPS further validates strong interfacial electronic coupling among Pd, Bi, and Zn, leading to charge redistribution, low-valence Bi species, and metallic Pd. Transient photocurrent and EIS measurements of Pd0.6Bi0.4/ZnO show significantly enhanced charge separation and reduced interfacial resistance, consistent with prolonged charge carrier lifetimes from TCSPC. DFT calculations demonstrate that Pd0.6Bi0.4 nanoalloys exhibit strong CO2 adsorption and effectively stabilize oxygenated intermediates, enabling a thermodynamically favorable pathway toward methanol. The catalyst maintains excellent stability across multiple cycles. This work establishes an effective strategy for engineering defect-rich alloy oxide heterostructures for solar-driven conversion of CO2 to fuel.
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Details
- Title
- Pd–Bi Bimetallic Alloy on ZIF-8-Derived ZnO Semiconductor for Accelerated Photocatalytic CO2 to Methanol Production
- Creators
- Switi Dattatraya Kshirsagar - Indian Institute of Chemical TechnologyBapan Biswas - Indian Institute of Chemical TechnologyBhavya Jaksani - Indian Institute of Chemical TechnologySandip Prabhakar Shelake - Indian Institute of Chemical TechnologyAmit Gautam - University of HyderabadB. Moses Abraham - Indian Institute of Technology KanpurAnnadanam V. Sesha Sainath - Indian Institute of Chemical TechnologyUjjwal Pal - Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
- Publication Details
- Energy & fuels, v 40(18), pp 10184-10198
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society
- Number of pages
- 15
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001738099400001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105038233071
- Other Identifier
- 991022180705304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Energy & Fuels
- Engineering, Chemical