Highly efficient photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO using cobalt oxide-coated spherical mesoporous silica particles as catalysts.

New spherical hybrid materials as-synthesized by Cobalt oxide nanoparticles immobilized in situ on the outside surfaces of mesoporous silica particles exhibited highly efficient visible-light-driven catalytic performance towards CO2-to-CO conversion. An average generation rate of CO of up to 25 626 μmol h-1 g-1 with a selectivity of 83.0% was achieved.