Interfacial Engineering of Bi₁₉Br₃S₂₇ Nanowires Promotes Metallic Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction Activity under Near-Infrared Light Irradiation

Abstract

Developing highly efficient photocatalysts to utilize solar radiation for converting CO₂ into solar fuels is of great importance for energy sustainability and carbon neutralization. Herein, through an alkali-etching-introduced interface reconstruction strategy, a nanowire photocatalyst denoted as V-Bi₁₉Br₃S₂₇, with rich Br and S dual-vacancies and surface Bi-O bonding introduced significant near-infrared (NIR) light response, has been developed. The as-obtained V-Bi₁₉Br₃S₂₇ nanowires exhibit a highly efficient metallic photocatalytic reduction property for converting CO₂ into CH₃OH when excited solely under NIR light irradiation. Free of any cocatalyst and sacrificial agent, metallic defective V-Bi₁₉Br₃S₂₇ shows 2.3-fold higher CH₃OH generation than Bi₁₉Br₃S₂₇ nanowires. The detailed interfacial structure evolution and reaction mechanism have been carefully illustrated down to the atomic scale. This work provides a unique interfacial engineering strategy for developing high-performance sulfur-based NIR photocatalysts for photon reducing CO₂ into alcohol for achieving high-value solar fuel chemicals, which paves the way for efficiently using the solar radiation energy extending to the NIR range to achieve the carbon neutralization goal.