Ag Nanoparticle-Decorated GaN/β-Ga2O3 Core-Shell Nanowires as Catalysts for Highly Efficient CO2-to-CO Photocatalytic Conversion

Solar-driven photocatalytic CO2 conversion is a promising strategy to alleviate the energy crisis and reduce the level of CO2 emissions. In this study, GaN@beta-Ga2O3 core-shell nanowire (NW) arrays were prepared via the thermal oxidation of GaN NWs, and their photocatalytic CO2 reduction performance was investigated. GaN@beta-Ga2O3 NWs exhibited superior photocatalytic activity compared to GaN NWs and beta-Ga2O3 NWs under simulated sunlight irradiation. The average CO production rate reached similar to 447.30 mu mol g(-1) h(-1) within 3 h. The photocatalytic reduction process was further enhanced using GaN@beta-Ga2O3 NWs with Ag nanoparticles of similar to 18 nm size as cocatalysts, and its average rate increased to similar to 689.18 mu mol g(-1) h(-1). The ternary heterostructured photocatalyst demonstrated excellent synergistic effects and high efficiency in environmental protection and energy conversion applications.