Plasma treated Bi2WO6 ultrathin nanosheets with oxygen vacancies for improved photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

Oxygen vacancies on photocatalyst surfaces have a significant effect on the improvement of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction performance. Plasma treatment can quickly and efficiently introduce oxygen vacancies on catalyst surfaces. In this work, we used plasma to treat Bi₂WO₆ ultrathin nanosheets to create more surface oxygen vacancies. Increasing oxygen vacancies on the surface of Bi₂WO₆ not only increases the catalyst's ability to absorb light, but also greatly promotes the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. In addition, increasing the catalyst specific surface area provides more reaction sites due to plasma etching. In photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, Bi₂WO₆ ultrathin nanosheets with more oxygen vacancies showed excellent activity, and the CO production rate was 40.6 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹. Our research provides a simple and fast pathway to improve the CO₂ reduction performance of photocatalysts.