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Inspired by the natural photosynthesis systems, the integrated harnessing and conversion of CO2present a promising solution for addressing the ever-rising global atmospheric concentration of CO2. Hollow multi-shelled structured (HoMS) photocatalysts, featuring alternating shells and cavities, have recently gained recognition as efficient nano-reactors for capturing CO2molecules and facilitating effective photoreduction within these hierarchical structures, leveraging the preeminent enrichment effect. In this work, to augment the photocatalytic efficacy of HoMS in CO2treatment, highly dispersed CuxO nanoparticles (NPs) were incorporated on the CeO2shells through a polymer-assisted impregnation method to create more active sites and strengthen the interaction between the hetero-shells and CO2molecules. The photoreduction of the CO2-to-CO rate under a diluted CO2(15%, volume fraction) atmosphere is improved by the introduction of CuxO NPs, with the highest CO yielding rate reaching 120 µmol·h−1·g−1without any sacrificial reagents. Further comparison experiments and theoretical calculations reveal that the CuxO NPs promote the adsorption of CO2molecules in HoMS, accelerate the charge transfer efficiency, and stabilize the surface oxygen vacancies (Ovs) during the photoreduction CO2conversion process. We hope these easy-to-prepare HoMS nanoreactors can contribute to the effective enrichment and valorization of CO2in industrial exhaust gases.

BiVO4, a promising visible-light responding photocatalyst, has aroused extensive research interest because of inexpensiveness and excellent chemical stability. However, its main drawback is the poor photoinduced charge-transfer dynamics. Building nanostructures is an effective way to tackle this problem. Herein, we put forward a new method to prepare nanostructured BiVO4from Bi-based metal-organic frameworks[Bi-MOF(CAU-17)] precursor. The as-prepared material has a rod-like morphology inherited from the Bi-MOF sacrificial template and consists of small nanoparticle as building blocks. Compared with its counterparts prepared by conventional methods, MOF-derived nanostructured BiVO4shows better light absorption ability, narrower bandgap, and improved electrical conductivity as well as reduced recombination. Consequently, BiVO4nanostructure demonstrates high photocatalytic activity under visible light towards the degradation of methylene blue. Methylene blue can be degraded up to 90% within 30 min with a reaction rate constant of 0.058 min−1. Moreover, the cycling stability of the catalyst is excellent to withstand unchanged degradation efficiency for at least 5 cycles.