Engineering of oxygen vacancy and bismuth cluster assisted ultrathin Bi12O17Cl2 nanosheets with efficient and selective photoreduction of CO2 to CO

Abstract The photocatalytic conversion of CO 2 into solar‐powered fuels is viewed as a forward‐looking strategy to address energy scarcity and global warming. This work demonstrated the selective photoreduction of CO 2 to CO using ultrathin Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 nanosheets decorated with hydrothermally synthesized bismuth clusters and oxygen vacancies (OVs). The characterizations revealed that the coexistences of OVs and Bi clusters generated in situ contributed to the high efficiency of CO 2 –CO conversion (64.3 μmol g −1 h −1 ) and perfect selectivity. The OVs on the facet (001) of the ultrathin Bi 12 O 17 Cl 2 nanosheets serve as sites for CO 2 adsorption and activation sites, capturing photoexcited electrons and prolonging light absorption due to defect states. In addition, the Bi‐cluster generated in situ offers the ability to trap holes and the surface plasmonic resonance effect. This study offers great potential for the construction of semiconductor hybrids as multiphotocatalysts, capable of being used for the elimination and conversion of CO 2 in terms of energy and environment.