Plasmonic active "hot carriers" facilitating photocatalytic CO₂ reduction and 2,4-dichlorophenol oxidation over Bi-deposited BiOBr with abundant oxygen vacancies

Plasmon-induced semiconductors have attracted considerable interest in photocatalysis. Herein, this work de-scribes the tremendous potential of plasmonic photocatalysts in photocatalytic CO2 reduction and 2,4-DCP oxidation. BiOBr with high concentrations of plasmonic Bi and oxygen vacancies were synthesized by reduc-tive propylene glycol and lignin. Bi0.908O0.862Br exhibited excellent photocatalytic efficiency of CO2 reduction (CO: 62.94 mu mol g -1h-1) and 2,4-DCP oxidation (94.65 %), which was attributed to the surface plasmon reso-nance (SPR) effect based on the experiments and DFT theoretical simulation. As demonstrated, the SPR effect induced by plasmonic Bi and oxygen vacancies can not only rationally enlarge the light-responsive region, but also induce abundant "hot carriers" and photothermal effect, eventually lowering the energy barriers of pho-tocatalytic reactions. Meanwhile, a bulk-to-surface charge transfer channel was created to realize the high separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. Moreover, plasmonic Bi and oxygen vacancies could act as adsorption sites to promote the activation of CO2 and O2 substrates. This work provides a new perspective for designing plasmonic photocatalysts to realize environmental remediation and energy conversion.