An artificial photosynthesis system based on CeO2 as light harvester and N-doped graphene Cu(II) complex as artificial metalloenzyme for CO2 reduction to methanol fuel

Abstract An artificial photosynthesis catalyst composed of CeO 2 , N-doped graphene and copper ions (CeO 2 –NG–Cu 2 + ) was fabricated. The light-harvesting CeO 2 –NG was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 was conducted in an aqueous solution of Na 2 SO 3 . Results indicated that the reduction rate of CO 2 to methanol approached 507.3 μmol · g − 1  cat. · h − 1 for CeO 2 –NG–Cu 2 + artificial photosynthesis system in 80 min, whereas the reduction rate was only 5.8 μmol · g − 1  cat. · h − 1 for bare CeO 2 –NG without metalloenzyme. Therefore, artificial metalloenzyme played a vital role in reducing CO 2 to methanol fuel.