Efficient Photocatalytic CO₂ Reformation of Methane on Ru/La-g-C₃N₄ by Promoting Charge Transfer and CO₂ Activation

Artificial photosynthesis, in which solar energy drives CO2 to produce hydrocarbon fuels, is considered an effective way to solve the increasingly serious energy crisis and mitigate the greenhouse effect. Herein, layered porous Ru-loaded and La-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets (Ru-LGCNs) were prepared by one-step calcination, followed by in situ photoreduction deposition of Ru. The layered Ru-LGCN showed excellent photocatalytic CO2 reformation of methane performance under visible light, and the generation rates of CO, CH3CH3, CH3OH and CH3CH(OH)CH3 were 133, 154, 251 and 133 μmol h−1 g−1, respectively. The reason for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ru-LGCN is the synergistic effect of bimetallic Ru and La. It is worth noting that the doped La can provide a good channel for charge transfer between LGCNs and CO2. This change in the charge behavior of the transport path is beneficial to break the C=O bonds on the active site La and generate methyl radicals on Ru, resulting in the generation of C2+ hydrocarbons