Bi/BiOCl Nanosheets Enriched with Oxygen Vacancies to Enhance Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

• Published in: Transactions of Tianjin University Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 155 - 164
• Main Authors: Wu, Shuqi, Wang, Junbu, Li, Qingchuan, Huang, Zeai, Rao, Zhiqiang, Zhou, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tianjin Tianjin University 01.04.2021; Springer Nature B.V; State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University,Chengdu 610500, China; School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China%School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Catalytic activity; Engineering; Humanities and Social Sciences; Mechanical Engineering; multidisciplinary; Nanosheets; Noble metals; Oxygen enrichment; Photocatalysis; Reduction (metal working); Research Article; Science; Thickness; Vacancies; BiOCl nanosheets; CO; reduction; Photocatalysis; Bi; Oxygen vacancy; CO2 reduction
• ISSN: 1006-4982; 1995-8196
• DOI: 10.1007/s12209-020-00280-6

BiOCl has been used in the photoreduction of CO 2 , but exhibits limited photocatalytic activity. In this study, Bi was in situ reduced and deposited on the surface of (001)-dominated BiOCl nanosheets by NaBH 4 to form Bi/BiOCl nanosheets enriched with oxygen vacancies. The as-prepared Bi/BiOCl nanosheets having low thickness (ca. 10 nm) showed much higher concentration of oxygen vacancies compared to Bi/BiOCl nanoplates having high thickness (ca. 100 nm). Subsequently, the photocatalytic activity of the Bi/BiOCl nanosheets enriched with oxygen vacancies for CO 2 reduction was dramatically enhanced and much higher than that of BiOCl nanoplates, nanosheets, and Bi/BiOCl nanoplates. It showed that the improved photocatalytic activity in the reduction of CO 2 can be attributed to the enhanced separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs of the oxygen vacancies on BiOCl nanosheets and Bi metals. This work demonstrated that the in situ reduction of non-noble metals on the surface of BiOCl nanosheets that are enriched with oxygen vacancies is favorable for increasing photocatalytic CO 2 reduction.