LAUSR

Abstract Due to the urgent demand in relieving the global environmental pollution and energy crisis, it is desirable to develop multifunctional materials for pollutant removal and solar fuels production. Herein, octahedron shaped SnFe2O4(Octa-SFO) was synthesized through a hydrothermal route, and its visible light photocatalytic capacities were evaluated using bisphenol A(BPA) degradation in the presence of H2O2 and CO2 reduction. It was found that the Octa-SFO exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for the BPA degradation and CO2 reduction. The BPA degradation rate of Octa-SFO was 1.8 times that of SFO nanoparticles, and the photocatalytic CO2 conversion rate of Octa-SFO was 2 times that of SFO nanoparticles. The improved photocatalytic efficiency could be attributed to abundant oxygen vacancies on the surface of Octa-SFO, which could promote visible light absorption, facilitate the adsorption of CO2 and accelerate the carrier migration. Also, Octa-SFO featuring excellent magnetic properties present an excellent recyclability. Control experiments (Octa-SFO without surface oxygen vacancies) demonstrated the vital role of surface oxygen vacancies on the enhancement of CO2 adsorption and reduction property in the catalytic process. The spin trapping experiment revealed that e-, •O2− and h+ are primary active species. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of Octa-SFO was further investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the adsorption between CO2 and SFO. The current study presented new possibilities in the development of high performance SFO-based photocatalysts for CO2 conversion and environmental purification.