Fabrication of Flexible Mesoporous Black Nb₂O₅ Nanofiber Films for Visible‐Light‐Driven Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction into CH₄

Abstract

Achieving high selectivity and conversion efficiency simultaneously is a challenge for visible-light-driven photocatalytic CO₂ reduction into CH₄ . Here, a facile nanofiber synthesis method and a new defect control strategy at room-temperature are reported for the fabrication of flexible mesoporous black Nb₂ O₅ nanofiber catalysts that contain abundant oxygen-vacancies and unsaturated Nb dual-sites, which are efficient towards photocatalytic production of CH₄ . The oxygen-vacancy decreases the bandgap width of Nb₂ O₅ from 3.01-2.25 eV, which broadens the light-absorption range from ultraviolet to visible-light, and the dual sites in the mesopores can easily adsorb CO₂ , so that the intermediate product of CO* can be spontaneously changed into *CHO. The formation of a highly stable NbCHO* intermediate at the dual sites is proposed to be the key feature determining selectivity. The preliminary results show that without using sacrificial agents and photosensitizers, the nanofiber catalyst achieves 64.8% selectivity for CH₄ production with a high evolution rate of 19.5 µmol g^-1 h^-1 under visible-light. Furthermore, the flexible catalyst film can be directly used in devices, showing appealing and broadly commercial applications.