Solar-driven photocatalytic conversion of CO2\ into fuels has attracted a lot of interest; however, developing active catalysts that can selectively convert CO2\ to fuels with desirable reaction products remains a grand challenge. For instance, complete suppression of the competing H2\ evolution during photocatalytic CO2-to-CO conversion has not been achieved before. We design and synthesize a spongy nickel-organic heterogeneous photocatalyst via a photochemical route. The catalyst has a crystalline network architecture with a high concentration of defects. It is highly active in converting CO2\ to CO, with a production rate of ~1.6 {\texttimes} 104\ μmol hour-1\ g-1. No measurable H2\ is generated during the reaction, leading to nearly 100\% selective CO production over H2\ evolution. When the spongy Ni-organic catalyst is enriched with Rh or Ag nanocrystals, the controlled photocatalytic CO2\ reduction reactions generate formic acid and acetic acid. Achieving such a spongy nickel-organic photocatalyst is a critical step toward practical production of high-value multicarbon fuels using solar energy.
}, year = {2017}, booktitle = {Science Advances}, journal = {Science Advances}, series = {Science Advances}, volume = {3}, pages = {e1700921}, month = {07/2017}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.1700921}, language = {eng}, }