Converting carbon dioxide photocatalytically into fuels using solar energy is an attractive route to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels. Photothermal CO₂ catalysis is one approach to achieve this, but improved materials that can more efficiently harvest and use solar energy are needed. Here, we report a supra-photothermal catalyst architecture—inspired by the greenhouse effect—that boosts the performance of a catalyst for CO₂ hydrogenation compared to traditional photothermal catalyst designs. The catalyst consists of a nanoporous-silica-encapsulated nickel nanocrystal (Ni@p-SiO₂), which is active for methanation and reverse water–gas shift reactions. Under illumination, the local temperatures achieved by Ni@p-SiO₂ exceed those of Ni-based catalysts without the SiO₂ shell. We suggest that the heat insulation and infrared shielding effects of the SiO₂ sheath confine the photothermal energy of the nickel core, enabling a supra-photothermal effect. Catalyst sintering and coking is also lessened in Ni@p-SiO₂, which may be due to spatial confinement effects.

使用太阳能将二氧化碳光催化转化为燃料是摆脱对化石燃料依赖的有吸引力的途径。光热 CO ₂催化是实现这一目标的一种方法，但需要能够更有效地收集和使用太阳能的改进材料。在这里，我们报告了一种受温室效应启发的超光热催化剂结构，与传统的光热催化剂设计相比，它提高了 CO _{2加氢催化剂的性能。}该催化剂由纳米多孔二氧化硅包封的镍纳米晶体（Ni@p-SiO ₂）组成，对甲烷化和逆水煤气变换反应具有活性。在光照下，Ni@p-SiO _{2达到的局部温度超过了没有 SiO 2}壳的镍基催化剂。_{我们认为SiO 2}护套的隔热和红外屏蔽作用限制了镍核的光热能，从而实现了超光热效应。_{Ni@p-SiO 2}中的催化剂烧结和结焦也减少了，这可能是由于空间限制效应。