Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 on a Bi2MoxW1–xO6 Solid Solution with Enhanced Activity

This paper reports on a Bi2MoxW1–xO6 solid solution with excellent photocatalytic activity in CO2 reduction. Under simulated sunlight, the Bi2Mo0.25W0.75O6 solid solution achieved a CO generation yield of ≤298.2 μmol g–1 over 3 h, which was 2.1 and 1.5 times larger than those of pristine Bi2WO6 and Bi2MoO6, respectively. Via an in-depth study of the mechanism, this excellent photocatalytic activity was determinied to be probably due to two major contributions: (1) the formation of oxygen vacancies on the Bi2Mo0.25W0.75O6 solid solution, which provided more reactive sites for adsorption and activation of CO2, and (2) modulation of the electronic band structure, which facilitated charge separation. Mechanistic and reaction pathways have been deeply explored and proposed.