Tensile stress enhanced dynamic oxygen vacancies on interlayer stretched Bi2O2CO3 as pivotal knobs to promote sustainable selective CO2 photoreduction

Abstract

Surface oxygen vacancies (OVs) with abundant localized electrons on bismuth-oxygen based photocatalysts are proved to have the ability to capture and activate CO2. However, the surface OVs are easily filled with oxygen-containing species and destroyed, losing their effects as active sites and hindering the subsequent CO2 photoreduction. For realistic and sustainable CO2 photoreduction, constructing sustainable and stable surface OVs as active sites on photocatalysts is essential. This work shows the synthesis of interlayer stretched Bi2O2CO3 ultrathin nanosheets with tensile stress, which are beneficial to continuously generating light-induced dynamic OVs. With sufficient active sites, excellent, stable, and selective photoreduction of CO2 to CO under simulated solar light is achieved. The light-induced OVs can reduce the energy barrier of rate-determining step, resulting in the 100% product selectivity. The results presented herein demonstrate the effect of dynamic OVs induced by interlayer tensile strain on catalysts for the enhanced selective CO2 photoreduction process.