Boosting Interfacial Electron Transfer and CO₂ Enrichment on ZIF-8/ZnTe for Selective Photoelectrochemical Reduction of CO₂ to CO

Artificial photosynthesis is an effective way of converting CO₂ into fuel and high value-added chemicals. However, the sluggish interfacial electron transfer and adsorption of CO₂ at the catalyst surface strongly hamper the activity and selectivity of CO₂ reduction. Here, we report a photocathode attaching zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) onto a ZnTe surface to mimic an aquatic leaf featuring stoma and chlorophyll for efficient photoelectrochemical conversion of CO₂ into CO. ZIF-8 possessing high CO₂ adsorption capacity and diffusivity has been selected to enrich CO₂ into nanocages and provide a large number of catalytic active sites. ZnTe with high light-absorption capacity serves as a light-absorbing layer. CO₂ molecules are collected in large nanocages of ZIF-8 and delivered to the ZnTe surface. As evidenced by scanning electrochemical microscopy, the interface can effectively boost interfacial electron transfer kinetics. The ZIF-8/ZnTe photocathode with unsaturated Zn-N_x sites exhibits a high Faradaic efficiency for CO production of 92.9% and a large photocurrent of 6.67 mA·cm^-2 at −2.48 V (vs Fc/Fc⁺) in a nonaqueous electrolyte at AM 1.5G solar irradiation (100 mW·cm^-2).