Boosting CO2 Capture and Its Photochemical Conversion on Bismuth Surface

The activity and efficiency of photocatalytic CO2 conversion are limited by a narrow spectral response range and fast electron-hole pair recombination. As plasmonic photocatalysts have become novel catalytic materials for visible light, herein, a typical Bi2O3 photocatalyst as a template to achieve simultaneous in situ bismuth reduction and coupling on the material surface via hydrogen-argon plasma alteration is used. Combining the surface plasmon resonance effect of Bi nanoparticles and the characteristics of composite photocatalytic materials, Bi-Bi2O3 exhibits excellent efficiency in light absorption and separation of photogenerated carriers; photocatalytic activity is significantly enhanced. The CO yields are changed with plasma-treated duration; the maximum is reached at a treatment time of 3 min, where the rate of CO production is 29.87 mu mol h(-1) g(-1) and CH4 production rate increases from 0 to 6.29 mu mol h(-1) g(-1). The reaction mechanism is further confirmed by in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Both the efficient light-generated carrier separation and intense light absorption contribute to the high activity of the well-designed Bi-Bi2O3 catalyst.