Optimizing the Co2 Reduction for Ch3oh Production Using Flexible Nimoo4 Coatings as a Photocatalyst

In this work, the CO 2 photoreduction to generate renewable methanol was investigated. NiMoO 4 was selected as a photocatalyst due to its visible light absorption and good photocatalytic performance. The photocatalyst was deposited on glass fibers by a one-step microwave-hydrothermal method, which resulted in a highly homogeneous coating that promotes gas diffusion, a higher surface exposure, and an easy application in the photocatalytic reactors. The operation parameters of the CO 2 photoreduction were modeled and optimized for CH 3 OH production using a central composite design centered on the faces . In the design of experiments, the conditions: (i) temperature, (ii) light filter (blue and yellow), and (iii) NaHCO 3 concentration were modified to find the optimized CH 3 OH production. The optimal values were 10°C, 0.19 M of NaHCO 3 , and a yellow light filter, which promoted a CH 3 OH production of 2436 μmol/(g-h) under visible light. The regression analysis, with R aj 2 value of 0.82, had a good agreement between the experimental results and the predictive values. In addition, factors had a significant influence on the rate of CH 3 OH production. These results were associated with a synergistic effect between a low temperature (10°C) and low NaHCO 3 concentration that promoted the CO 2 adsorption due to its exothermic nature of the process. Also, the yellow filter could promote a more efficient light absorption on the NiMoO 4 coating