Mo-Bi-Cd Ternary Metal Chalcogenides: Highly Efficient Photocatalyst for CO₂ Reduction to Formic Acid under Visible Light

The exploration of efficient and cheap photocatalysts for the transformation of CO₂ into value-added chemicals is of great importance. Herein, we carried out the work on CO₂ reduction using ternary metal chalcogenides as photocatalysts. It was found that the ternary metal chalcogenides of (Mo-Bi)S_x supported on mesoporous CdS ((Mo-Bi)S_x/Meso CdS) was very active and selective for photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to HCOOH in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim]BF₄)-acetonitrile (MeCN) mixed solvent under visible light. HCOOH was the only carbonaceous product and H₂ was the only byproduct. The rate of HCOOH formation could be as high as 208 μmol·g^-1·h^-1 with a 72% faradaic efficiency. The synergistic effect of the components played a key role for the outstanding performance of the catalyst; the catalyst and [Bmim]BF₄ further cooperated in promoting the reaction.