In Situ Growth of Metal-Organic Layer on Polyoxometalate-etching CuO to Boost CO Reduction with High Stability.

Low-cost CuO with a suitable band gap holds great potential for solar utilization. However severe photocorrosion and weak CO capture capability have significantly hindered their application in artificial photosynthesis. Herein, polyoxometalate (POM)-etching and in situ growth of metal-organic framework (MOF) can simultaneously incorporate electron-sponge and HKUST protective layer into CuO. The resulting ternary composites CuO@POM@HKUST-n (POM=PMoO and PWO) with dual hetero-interfaces can efficiently convert CO to HCOOH with 5226 μmol g yield, over 5 and 55 times higher than that of CuO (1010 μmol g) and CuO@HKUST (95.02 μmol g). In situ XPS and DFT studies reveal that Cu mainly existed in the form of CuO and Cu-MOF, while a unique Cu (1