Defect-Rich Bi₁₂O₁₇Cl₂ Nanotubes Self-Accelerating Charge Separation for Boosting Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction

Solar-driven reduction of CO₂, which converts inexhaustible solar energy into value-added fuels, has been recognized as a promising sustainable energy conversion technology. However, the overall conversion efficiency is significantly limited by the inefficient charge separation and sluggish interfacial reaction dynamics, which resulted from a lack of sufficient active sites. Herein, Bi₁₂O₁₇Cl₂ superfine nanotubes with a bilayer thickness of the tube wall are designed to achieve structural distortion for the creation of surface oxygen defects, thus accelerating the carrier migration and facilitating CO₂ activation. Without cocatalyst and sacrificing reagent, Bi₁₂O₁₇Cl₂ nanotubes deliver high selectivity CO evolution rate of 48.6 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ in water (16.8 times than of bulk Bi₁₂O₁₇Cl₂), while maintaining stability even after 12 h of testing. This paves the way to design efficient photocatalysts with collaborative optimizing charge separation and CO₂ activation towards CO₂ photoreduction.