Bi4TaO8Cl/Bi heterojunction enables high-selectivity photothermal catalytic conversion of CO2-H2O flow to liquid alcohol

The high-selectivity solar-driven catalytic production of value-added fuels, such as liquid alcohol from CO2, represents an ideal energy storage and conversion pathway. However, catalysts facilitating a practical CO2 reduction approach are currently unavailable. The present work addresses this issue by developing a novel Bi4TaO8Cl/Bi heterojunction. The Bi4TaO8Cl/Bi heterojunction photocatalysts exhibit remarkable photon-to thermal conversion and can attain a heating rate as great as 160.64 ?degrees C/s under solar irradiation with average light intensity of 365 mW/cm(2), which is significantly greater than the 40.94 ?degrees C/s heating rate attained by pristine Bi4TaO8Cl photocatalysts. The proposed photothermal catalyst overcomes the high CO production obtained via conventional Bi4TaO8Cl photocatalysts, and thereby obtains high liquid alcohol (methanol and ethanol) selectivities of 92% and 76% under broadband and strictly visible light irradiation, respectively, for CO2-H2O mixtures in a flow reactor at a temperature of 200 ?degrees C. Analyses demonstrate that the superior CO2 reduction performance of the Bi4TaO8Cl/Bi heterojunction photocatalysts can be attributed to increased optical absorption, bidirectional charge transfer across the Bi4TaO8Cl/Bi interface, and the surface plasma resonance of the Bi nanoparticles. Accordingly, this work provides a novel strategy for the production of value-added liquid fuels in future CO2 conversion processes.