The photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR) is of paramount importance in the energy industry and environmental protection. Developing highly efficient catalysts plays a central role in advancing CO₂RR for practical applications, and a Au/TiO₂ heterostructure has emerged as a prominent photocatalyst in CO₂RR. However, there is still a need to improve the reaction efficiency and selectivity of this heterostructure to realize its full potential in practical applications. Herein, a significant enhancement in the total gas-production rate on the Au/TiO₂ heterostructure is achieved by selectively adsorbing thiol molecules, specifically mercaptoethanesulfonic acid, onto the gold surface. Remarkably, the selectivity toward carbon monoxide has also improved from 62.3 to 79.3%. Notably, the reaction rate and selectivity are strongly influenced by the choice of thiol molecules, their concentration, and the wavelength of light used for illumination. The improved reaction efficiency and selectivity can be attributed to the promotion of charge transfer at the Au–TiO₂ interface induced by molecular adsorption of thiols. This phenomenon leads to enhanced performance in the photocatalytic CO₂RR process. Importantly, this work presents a simple, convenient, cost-effective, and controllable strategy to improve the reaction efficiency and selectivity of photocatalytic CO₂RR on the Au/TiO₂ heterostructure. Furthermore, this strategy holds promise for application in various other heterogeneous photocatalytic systems in the near future.

中文翻译：

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Au/TiO2 上选择性吸附的巯基乙磺酸提高了光催化还原二氧化碳的产率和选择性

光催化还原二氧化碳（CO ₂ RR）在能源工业和环境保护中至关重要。开发高效催化剂在推进CO ₂ RR的实际应用中发挥着核心作用，而Au/TiO ₂异质结构已成为CO ₂ RR中的重要光催化剂。然而，仍然需要提高这种异质结构的反应效率和选择性，以充分发挥其在实际应用中的潜力。在此，通过选择性地将硫醇分子，特别是巯基乙磺酸吸附到金表面上，实现了Au/TiO ₂异质结构上总气体生产率的显着提高。值得注意的是，一氧化碳的选择性也从 62.3% 提高到 79.3%。值得注意的是，反应速率和选择性很大程度上受到硫醇分子的选择、其浓度以及用于照明的光的波长的影响。反应效率和选择性的提高可归因于硫醇分子吸附引起的Au-TiO ₂界面上电荷转移的促进。这种现象导致光催化CO ₂ RR过程的性能增强。重要的是，这项工作提出了一种简单、方便、经济且可控的策略来提高Au/TiO _{2异质结构上光催化CO 2} RR的反应效率和选择性。此外，该策略有望在不久的将来应用于各种其他异质光催化系统。