Cooperation of ultrathin bowl-shaped scaffolds and oxygen vacancies promoting selective photo-oxidation of aromatic alcohols on layered oxyhalide PbBiO2Cl

Photocatalytic selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols into value-added chemicals has attracted increasing attention. Yet most processes suffer from sluggish charge kinetics, weak O2 affinity, low conversion efficiency and selectivity, which restrict their practical development. Herein, PbBiO2Cl ultrathin bowls (UBs) with rich oxygen vacancies (ROV) were initially fabricated via a combined microemulsion method and in-situ reduction process. The ultrathin bowl-shaped geometry and rich OVs effectively boost light absorption and charge sepa-ration. Theoretical results indicate the OVs on PbBiO2Cl not only generate abundant localized electrons, but also afford strong interfacial covalent bonds between O2 and OVs, which can act as atomic-level electron transfer highway and effectively promote the O2 adsorption and activation. As a result, ROV-PbBiO2Cl UBs show a 5.2-fold enhanced activity for aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes relative to PbBiO2Cl nanoplates (NPs). This work may inspire the design of more open hollow scaffolds with defect engineering for artificial photosynthesis.

Automated summary

This study successfully enhanced the oxidation activity of alcohols by synthesizing lead bismuth oxychloride ultrathin bowls with rich oxygen vacancies. The oxygen vacancies not only generated abundant localized electrons, but also promoted the adsorption and activation of oxygen, providing inspiration for the design of artificial photosynthesis.