Oxygen-deficient MoO3−x evoked synergistic photo-thermal catalytic CO2 reduction over g-C3N4

Developing inexpensive co-catalysts for photo-thermal synergistic catalysis by artificially inducing active sites on non-noble metal compounds has drawn much attention recently. In this work, oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide (MoO3−x) was in situ photodeposited on the surface of graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4) to tremendously improve its photocatalytic activity for CO2 conversion. A series of characterization analyses divulged that the MoO3−x not only promoted the separation of photo-generated charge carriers, but also served as the active sites for the adsorption and activation of CO2 molecules. More importantly, the oxygen-vacancy defect sites of MoO3−x can trigger localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) that enables effective harnessing of near-infrared (NIR) photons, promoting photo-thermal synergistic catalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added fuels through full solar spectrum harnessing.