摘要
Formic acid (FA) is a potential biomass resource of syngas with contents of carbon monoxide (CO, 60 wt.%) and hydrogen (H2, 4.4 wt.%). Among the technologies for FA conversion, the photoreforming of FA has received widespread attention due to its use of green solar energy conversion technology and mild reaction conditions. Herein, a V–W bimetallic solid solution, VxW1−xN1.5 with efficient co-catalytic properties was first and facilely synthesized. When CdS was used as a photocatalyst, the activity performance of the V0.1W0.9N1.5 system was over 60% higher than that of the W2N3 system. The computational simulations and experiments showed the V0.1W0.9N1.5 had great metallic features and large work functions, contributing a faster photo-generated carrier transfer and less recombination, finally facilitating a great performance in cocatalyst for syngas production in photoreforming FA. This work provides an approach to synthesizing novel transition metal nitrides for photocatalysis.