Under the background where “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”have become a global consensus, the research and development of new materials for solar photocatalytic reduction and conversion of CO₂have become an international academic frontier and a significant national demand in the fields of energy and environment. Recently,withthe support of national-level projects including theKey project by the Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.: U2102211), Professor Jing Liqiang’s team has successfully developed a two-dimensional g-C₃N₄photocatalytic material system with controllable co-modification of imidazolium ionic liquid and Co single atoms, achieving nearly 100% selective and efficient CO₂conversion in pure water. The team has also deeply revealed the kinetic process of photoinduced electron reduction of CO₂under the synergistic effect of ionic liquid and Co single atoms. The related results have been published in the international top-tier SCI journal, “Nature Communications” (Improving CO₂Photoconversion withIonicLiquid and CoSingleAtoms, Nature Communications, 2023, 14, 1457.). This work provides new insights for the design and synthesis of novel photocatalytic materials for efficient CO₂reduction and conversion.

Over the past three years, Professor Jing Liqiang’s team has focused on the international hotspot, solar-driven photocatalytic reduction and conversion of CO₂. Facing the major demand of the national“carbon peak and neutrality” strategy, they have successfully developed a series of excellent nano-photocatalysts based on charge regulation through new strategies such as single metal synthesis and construction of new Z-type heterojunction systems. Jing’steam has received funds from several national-level projects, including two key projects supported by the Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The related research achievements have been published in top international journals, including“Nat. Commun.” (Nat. Commun. 2023, 14, 1457),“Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.” (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 10873; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 20906-20914), and“Adv. Mater.” (Adv. Mater. 2023, e2300064; Adv. Mater. 2023, e2211575; Adv. Mater. 2022, 2205303; Adv. Mater. 2021, 2105482) among others, with a total of more than 40 high-level SCI papers. Many of them are ESI Top or hot papers.The team has formed a distinctive research feature in constructing efficientnano-photocatalysts based on charge modulation, attracting widespread attention from domestic and foreign counterparts. The above research results have strongly supported the high-quality development of the chemistry discipline in Heilongjiang University,the construction and maintenance for keylaboratories of the Ministry of Education and thework to realize carbon peak and neutrality goals.

The first authors of this work areLiuYang, postgraduate student, andSunJianhui, associate professor. The corresponding authors areBaiLinlu, associate professor,TangJunwang, professor, andJingLiqiang, professor.

(Link of the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36980-5; DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-36980-5)