Redução fotocatalítica de CO2 mediada por Nitretos de Carbono

Abstract

With population growth and the intensification of industrial activities over the last decades, there has been a significant increase in the consumption and exploitation of fossil fuel resources, leading to substantial increases in atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO₂), which directly impact the aggravation of global warming and climate change. In this context, Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technologies have gained relevance by enabling the direct conversion of CO₂ into higher value-added products, such as fuels and chemical feedstocks, while also contributing to the mitigation of adverse environmental effects through the sustainable use of the carbon cycle. Therefore, this work aims to present a literature review on photocatalysis as a CCU strategy employing carbon nitrides (g-C₃N₄), addressing the fundamentals of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous photocatalysis, the mechanisms involved in the generation process of electron-hole pairs in semiconductor materials, and the main strategies employed to improve the photocatalytic performance of g-C₃N₄, including doping with metallic nanoparticles and single atoms, defect engineering, and morphological control. The studies analyzed demonstrate that these modifications favor light absorption through band structure modulation, and consequently band gap tuning, charge separation and transport by inhibiting recombination, and catalytic conversion, contributing to improvements in process efficiency and product selectivity.