Authors
Yueying Yang, Xuan Xiang, Jiali Ren, Ying Bian, Xinyu Wang, Xiaoyang Lu, Yanjun Xue, Porun Liu, Cheng-Hao Chuang, Xiaoli Zhang, Jian Tian
Published in
Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany). Pages e77464. Aug 30, 2026. Epub Aug 30, 2026.
Abstract
In this work, we constructed an ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) In2O3 nanosheet (In2O3-Ns) structure based on oxygen vacancies (OV)-rich defects and low crystallinity to anchor Cu single atoms (Cu SAs) and synthesized Cu/In2O3-Ns photocatalysts. Benefiting from the synergistic strategy of Cu single atoms and In3+-OV, CO2 molecules were activated, the energy barrier for the formation of the *COOH intermediates was lowered, and the CO yield is increased to 17.24 µmol g-1 h-1 with near-unity selectivity (>99%). Moreover, Cu/In2O3-Ns photocatalysts demonstrate exceptional stability over extended cycling tests (64 h). In situ spectral characterization and DFT calculations reveal that the engineered two-dimensional ultrathin In2O3-Ns structures demonstrate significant advantages in promoting CO2 enrichment and confining key reaction intermediates following the anchoring of Cu single atoms, thereby substantially enhancing the surface coverage of *COOH species. Cu single atoms and In3+-OV sites synergistically promote *CO2 adsorption, *COOH formation/desorption, and accelerate the transfer of photoexcited charge carriers between In2O3 matrix and Cu single atoms. This cooperative mechanism significantly enhances both the photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity and CO selectivity. This work provides a novel strategy for constructing precisely tailored active sites in photocatalysts and offers fundamental insights into boosting the efficiency and selectivity of photocatalytic CO2 conversion.
PMID:
42669619
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 31 Aug 2026.
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