A research conducted by Naohiko Kato et al. has been published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A.
Artificial photosynthesis, which converts CO2 and water into valuable chemicals using solar energy, is attracting increasing attention toward carbon neutrality. Among possible products, acetate is particularly attractive because it can serve as a carbon and energy source for edible crops and can be further converted into glucose via bioprocesses. However, conventional CuFeO2-based catalysts suffer from poor stability: during photoelectrochemical (PEC) operation, Cu species are partially reduced to metallic Cu and Fe species leach into the electrolyte, leading to rapid performance degradation.
In this study, we developed the CuFe2O4-based catalysts for PEC CO2-to-acetate conversion. The new electrode achieved faradaic efficiencies exceeding 90% for acetate production with significantly improved stability. Furthermore, introducing CuO as a conductive additive approximately doubled the photocurrent density while preserving the high acetate selectivity.
These results are expected to form the foundation of efficient artificial photosynthesis systems that can convert solar energy into chemicals and potentially food efficiently.
Title :Improved Stability and Selectivity of CuFe2O4-based Catalysts for Photoelectrochemical CO2-to-acetate Conversion
Authors: Kato, N., Saeki, S., Nishimura, F., Y., Takeda, Y., Moribe, S.
Journal Name: Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Published: October 31, 2025