Restricted template-induced growth of vanadium oxide clusters on BiVO4 (110) crystal planes for an efficient catalytic conversion of CO2 to methanol

The use of photocatalysis to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into a single liquid product, methanol, is a promising technological strategy. This study uses Bi2S3 to protect the BiVO4 (01 0) crystal plane, with a 200-nm regular basic unit COF as a template. The confined template method is employed to induce the growth of Bi nanoclusters on the BiVO4 (110) crystal plane. Electron beam irradiation further induces the epitaxial growth of the BiVO4 (110) crystal plane to form edge vanadium oxide clusters. During the irradiation process, substantial epitaxial growth occurred on the BiVO4 (110) crystal plane, achieving controllable growth of Bi nanoparticles (NPs) on this crystal plane, which results in the formation of vanadium oxide clusters at the edge of the crystal plane. Vanadium oxide clusters provide additional channels (dual channels) for CO2 conversion to methanol, and the substantially shifted d-band center enhances the ability to capture intermediates and form bonds in the reaction. The experimental results indicated that the construction of Bi NPs and vanadium oxide clusters resulted in a 15fold increase in methanol yield. This study provides new ideas for achieving high-performance CO2 to methanol production.