Heterophase junction engineering: Enhanced photo-thermal synergistic catalytic performance of CO reduction over 1T/2H-MoS.

Photocatalytic CO reduction technology has been proposed as a promising solution to the greenhouse effect and energy crisis. However, the lower quantum efficiency limits its practical applications. Here, we have significantly improved the photocatalytic CO reduction performance of MoS by coupling the heterophase junction (1T/2H-MoS) construction and photo-thermal synergy strategies. At 200 °C and 42 mW·cm of 420 nm LED irradiation, the CO production rate of 1T/2H-MoS reached 35.3 μmol·g·h, which was 3.5 and 2.8 times that of 1T-MoS and 2H-MoS, respectively. In addition, only faint CO was detected under sole photo- or sole thermal catalysis conditions. Mechanism studies showed that COOH* was the key intermediate in the photo-thermal synergistic catalytic CO reduction over 1T/2H-MoS. The heterophase junction engineering significantly facilitated the separation of photogenerated carriers, and the introduction of heat accelerated the charge migration and surface reaction rates. Our work provides innovative insights into the catalyst design and mechanism studies for photo-thermal synergistic catalytic CO reduction.