Synergistic Strategy of W18O49/Biocl Dioxygen Vacancy Promotes Photocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction and Toluene Oxidation Performance

Dual defects can synergistically react with molecules in space and time, thereby facilitating the activity and directional selectivity of photocatalytic reactions. The W₁₈O₄₉/BiOCl heterojunction photocatalyst with double oxygen vacancies was fabricated via a straightforward hydrothermal approach. The objective was to attain highly effective CO₂ reduction and the selective oxidation of toluene. The existence of a firmly bonded contact interface and oxygen vacancies in the W₁₈O₄₉/BiOCl heterojunction has been demonstrated to effectively promote the rapid separation and transportation of photogenerated electron holes. Upon exposure to visible light, the W₁₈O₄₉/BiOCl heterojunction exhibits excellent CO₂ reduction ability, reducing CO₂ to CO (87.4 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), and efficiently oxidizing toluene to benzaldehyde (1582.3 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), with a selectivity of about 86%. This research can offer guidance for the rational design of highly efficient bifunctional catalysts that combine the reduction of CO₂ with selective organic conversion.