Converting excessive CO₂ emissions from industrial operation into methane (CH₄) is critical for the remediation of global warming. However, this reaction requires a high temperature to overcome the high thermodynamic stability of CO₂. The development of efficient catalysts for the CO₂ methanation reaction at low temperature remains challenging. Here we report that when a TiO₂ photothermal catalyst is loaded with Ru nanoparticles, the CO₂ to CH₄ conversion efficiency is markedly enhanced under light illumination. In fact, the CO₂ performance was enhanced fourfold and twofold from those of the traditional thermal catalytic reaction at 200 °C and 250 °C, respectively. In-situ DRIFTS analysis revealed that light irradiation accelerates the transition of bicarbonate to formates via light-induced charge carriers. Moreover, theoretical calculations revealed that photo-induced electron transfer effectively promotes H₂ dissociation and CO₂ activation on the Ru atoms. This work provides new theoretical insights into CO₂ activation and methanation under light illumination.

将工业运营产生的过量 CO ₂排放转化为甲烷 (CH ₄ ) 对于全球变暖的治理至关重要。然而，该反应需要高温来克服CO ₂的高热力学稳定性。开发用于低温CO ₂甲烷化反应的高效催化剂仍然具有挑战性。在这里，我们报道了当负载有Ru纳米粒子的TiO ₂光热催化剂时，CO ₂到CH ₄的转化效率在光照下显着提高。事实上，CO ₂在 200 °C 和 250 °C 下，性能分别比传统的热催化反应提高了四倍和两倍。原位 DRIFTS 分析表明，光照射通过光诱导的电荷载流子加速了碳酸氢盐向甲酸盐的转变。此外，理论计算表明，光诱导电子转移有效地促进了Ru原子上的H ₂解离和CO _2活化。这项工作为光照下的CO ₂活化和甲烷化提供了新的理论见解。