Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction has been regarded as a practical and theoretical strategy to tackle the environmental and energy problems, yet remains a great challenge in conversion efficiency. In this work, Cu-doped WO₃ square nanoplates were fabricated through a one-step hydrothermal process and employed as catalysts for CO₂ photoreduction. It was revealed that Cu doping in WO₃ led to a more negative conduction band (CB) position, decreased bandgap energy, enhanced visible-light absorption capability, and high separation and transfer efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers. As a result, the Cu-doped WO₃ displays a superior photocatalytic performance for CO₂ photoreduction into CH₄/CO as compared to the pure WO₃. The best Cu–WO3 sample achieves CO and CH₄ formation rates of 3.23 and 1.63 μmol‧g⁻¹‧h⁻¹, which are 25 and 27-folds higher than those of pure WO₃, respectively. This work may propose a valid approach to engineer WO₃ nanoplates for boosting CO₂ photocatalytic reduction under visible-light irradiation.

光催化CO ₂还原被认为是解决环境和能源问题的实践和理论策略，但转换效率仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这项工作中，通过一步水热法制备了Cu掺杂的WO _{3方形纳米片，并用作CO 2}光还原的催化剂。结果表明，WO ₃中的Cu掺杂导致更负的导带(CB)位置、降低的带隙能量、增强的可见光吸收能力以及光生载流子的高分离和转移效率。因此，Cu掺杂的WO _{3对CO 2}光还原成CH表现出优异的光催化性能_{4 /CO 与纯WO 3}相比。最好的Cu-WO3样品的CO和CH ₄形成速率分别为3.23和1.63 μmol‧g ^-1 ‧h ^-1，分别比纯WO ₃高25和27倍。这项工作可能提出一种有效的方法来设计WO ₃纳米板，以促进可见光照射下的CO _{2光催化还原。}