Atomically Dispersed Electron Traps in Cu Doped BiOBr Boosting CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction to Methanol by Pure H<sub>2</sub>O
Ke Wang, Ming Cheng, Fanjie Xia, Ning Cao, Fanxing Zhang, Wenkang Ni, Xuanyu Yue, Keping Yan, Yi He, Yao Shi, Wenxin Dai, Pengfei Xie
Abstract
Abstract Overall photocatalytic conversion of CO 2 and pure H 2 O driven by solar irradiation into methanol provides a sustainable approach for extraterrestrial synthesis. However, few photocatalysts exhibit efficient production of CH 3 OH. Here, BiOBr nanosheets supporting atomic Cu catalysts for CO 2 reduction are reported. The investigation of charge dynamics demonstrates a strong built‐in electric field established by isolated Cu sites as electron traps to facilitate charge transfer and stabilize charge carriers. As result, the catalysts exhibit a substantially high catalytic performance with methanol productivity of 627.66 µmol g catal −1 h −1 and selectivity of ≈90% with an apparent quantum efficiency of 12.23%. Mechanism studies reveal that the high selectivity of methanol can be ascribed to energy‐favorable hydrogenation of *CO intermediate giving rise to *CHO. The unfavorable adsorption on Cu 1 @BiOBr prevents methanol from being oxidized by photogenerated holes. This work highlights the great potential of single‐atom photocatalysts in chemical transformation and energy storage reactions.