CO₂ capture and light driven photocatalytic conversion into useful compounds using neodymium doped bimetallic metal organic frameworks

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the greenhouse gases and its concentration in an ambient environment is considerably increased in recent day. Potential management of CO₂ by mitigation and sustainable conversion with utilization is urgent. A novel neodymium-doped nickel molybdenum metal organic frameworks (Nd@(Ni-Mo)MOF) was synthesised by the water-reflux methods and catalyst-light driven reduction of CO₂ into useful compounds was demonstrated using Nd@(Ni-Mo)MOF. Varied Nd weight % ratio (1 %, 5 %, and 10 %) was employed to synthesis Nd@(Ni-Mo)MOF. The materials showed higher surface area and desired pore-size volume (>1 nm) along with existence of Nd in the MOF matrix that apparently enhance the CO₂ capture capability. The materials exhibited catalytic activities at 3.9 eV that corresponding to narrow band of UV regions. Notably, 1 % Nd@(Ni-Mo)MOF exhibited enhanced CO₂ reduction with effective hydrocarbon generation including a maximum of 114.1 µmol/L CH₃OH and 337 µmol/L HCOOH with a reaction time of 4 hrs under UV light. The Nd@(Ni-Mo)MOF (1 % Nd) exhibited considerable photocatalytic activities with an electron consumption rate of 1358.6 µmol/L for the product selectivity of CH₃OH and HCOOH being 50.39 % and 49.60 % respectively. A detailed probable CO₂ reduction mechanism at Nd@(Ni-Mo)MOF was established. The study is anticipated to promote new horizons in discovering high-efficiency multi-functional catalysts for CO₂ reduction.