Enhanced Interfacial Charge Transfer/Separation By LSPR-Induced Defective Semiconductor Toward High Co 2 RR Performance.

Solar-driven reduction of CO 2 emissions into high-value-added carbonaceous compounds has been recognized as a sustainable energy conversion way. The high-efficiency charge separation and effective activation are the critical issues in the process. The local plasma effect of metal and the vacancy of semiconductors in the metal-semiconductor heterostructure can solve this issue extensively. Herein, an oxygen vacancy photocatalyst containing uniform Ag nanoparticles (Ag-20@Nb 2 O 5- x ) is designed, which exhibits an excellent reduction performance and the CO yield can reach 59.13 µmol g -1 with high selectivity. The carrier migration is accelerated and the activation of CO 2 is facilitated by the local surface plasmon effect and oxygen vacancy. Moreover, the photocatalytic CO 2 reduction mechanism is revealed based on the density functional theory and in situ technology in detail. This work provides an in-depth understanding of the design of more ingenious metal-semiconductor photocatalysts to achieve more efficient charge transfer.