Invigorating surface frustrated Lewis pairs on bifunctional quasi-disordered Sn-based catalyst for solar photothermocatalytic conversion of CO2 from air

Designing adsorption-enhanced solid catalysts with excellent bifunctional features is feasible for achieving carbon neutrality. In this study, surface-frustrated Lewis pair sites (sFLPs) were fabricated on a quasi-disordered Sn catalyst. Catalysts with different degrees of disorder were synthesized by thermochemical control. The disordered catalyst exhibited randomly distributed lattice disorder, in-plane oxygen vacancies, and mixed-valence Sn. The coexistence of Sn (IV, II) Lewis acidic sites and −OH Lewis basic sites was crucial in the activation of CO2. In addition, sFLPs were further stimulated on the disorder-engineered surface using simultaneous inclusion of PTA (W6+) and hydroxylation. The optimized catalyst exhibited an exceptionally high adsorption capacity and photothermocatalytic activity for 400 ppm CO2 in air compared to pristine SnO2. The enhanced adsorption and photothermocatalytic activity were attributed to distinctive chemistry of the redox-active sFLPs. This study highlights the potential of high-density sFLPs on disordered catalysts for CO2 abatement from the air.