Interfacial construction of P25/BiWO composites for selective CO photoreduction to CO in gas-solid reactions.

Photocatalysis provides an attractive approach to convert CO into valuable fuels, which relies on a well-designed photocatalyst with good selectivity and high CO reduction ability. Herein, a series of P25/BiWO nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple one-step hydrothermal method. The formation of a heterojunction between BiWO, which absorbs visible light, and P25, which absorbs ultraviolet light, expands the utilization of sunlight by the catalysts, and consequently, leads to a remarkably enhanced CO selective photoreduction to CO. The maximum CO yield of the P25/BiWO heterojunction under simulated solar irradiation was 15.815 μmol g h, which was 4.04 and 2.80 times higher than that of pure P25 and BiWO, respectively. Our investigations verified a Z-scheme charge migration mechanism based on various characterization techniques between P25 and BiWO. Furthermore, DRIFTS uncovered the related reaction intermediates and CO photoreduction mechanism. Our work sheds light on investigating the efficacious construction of BiWO-based hybrids for light-driven photocatalysis.