Single atomic Pt on amorphous ZrO₂ nanowires for advanced photocatalytic CO₂ reduction

The photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ is a reaction that involves multi-electron and multiconversion processes, and its efficiency is strongly affected by the electron transport pathways on the surface of the catalytic material. Here, Pt single-atom-anchored amorphous ZrO₂ nanowires (Pt SA/ZrO₂) are fabricated as an efficient photocatalyst for CO₂ reduction. The co-catalyst exhibited a superior CO yielding rate (16.61 μmol/g/h) and selectivity (97.6%), outperforming counterparts and most of previously reported ZrO₂-based photocatalysts. The amorphous nature endows the material with inherent abundant defects (e.g. oxygen vacancies), and ZrOPt charge bridges allow rapid photoelectron transfer, jointly contributing to the enhanced CO₂ reduction performance. We anticipate that design strategies based on anchoring single atoms on amorphous nanosubstrates will inspire further development of advanced photocatalysts.