One of the significant consequences of excessive fossil fuel consumption is the release of
anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere, contributing to global
environmental changes, including the phenomenon of global warming. To address this issue,
scientists have been exploring methods to convert CO2 into useful hydrocarbons through various
processes, including photocatalysis [1][2]. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a
promising class of hybrid crystalline materials for CO2 conversion through chemical fixation and
photocatalytic transformation [3]. These materials possess several advantageous properties,
such as high specific surface area and controllable pore sizes, which make them attractive for
efficient CO2 conversion [4]. However, despite the use of different MOFs in CO2 photoconversion,
several limitations persist. These limitations include the low efficiency of separating
photogenerated charge carriers and the mismatch between the abilities to effectively absorb light
and adsorb CO2, preventing the practical application of this technology [5][6].
The proposed research project aims to address these limitations by developing novel MOF-MOF
heterostructure materials with strictly defined morphologies, including core-shell, yolk-shell,
core-satellite, and asymmetric structures. These heterostructures offer the potential to enhance
the overall performance of CO2 photoconversion. The obtained heterostructures will be
extensively characterized using various analytical techniques, including scanning electron
microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy UVVis
(DRS UV-Vis), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and Xray
diffraction (XRD). Finally, the synthesized materials will be subjected to testing in the CO2
photoconversion reaction under the influence of both UV-Vis and visible (Vis) irradiation.