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Solar-driven conversion of bicarbonate (HCO3−) to carbonaceous fuels and/or chemicals provides an alternative route for the development of sustainable carbon economies. However, promoting the HCO3− reduction rate and tuning product selectivity remain significant challenges. This study reports the identification of isolated Ni/Cu atomic pairs dispersed on a BiOCl surface (Ni1/Cu1-BOC) as a promising candidate for efficient HCO3− reduction under UV-vis light irradiation. The optimized photocatalyst exhibits a high CO formation rate of 157.1 μmol g−1 h−1 with nearly 100% selectivity, even in the absence of added proton sources, sacrificial agents, or sensitizers. Experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that the atomically dispersed Ni/Cu pairs facilitate the protonation of HCO3− to CO2, which then undergoes a H+-assisted reduction pathway to produce CO, with *COOH as the intermediate. The synergistic effects of the Ni/Cu atomic pairs simultaneously promote the HCO3−-to-CO2 conversion and the subsequent CO2-to-CO reduction, providing valuable insights for the development of efficient diatomic catalysts for photocatalytic HCO3− reduction reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a surfactant-mediated approach to the production of single-crystal Bi3O4Br nanorings via a simple solvothermal method. The ring-like morphology is rare among bismuth oxyhalides, and the reaction pathways are superior to traditional chemical transformations. In detail, Bi3O4Br nanorings are prepared in three stages: (1) the formation of precursors, (2) selective etching and (3) Ostwald ripening. During these steps, the extra usage of templates is avoided and a series of useful intermediates are obtained. Besides, this method can be extended to fabricate other bismuth oxyhalide nanorings. Under visible-light irradiation, all of our samples are photo-activated. The Bi3O4Br nanorings exhibit an efficient oxygen-evolution rate (72.54 μmol h−1) and pollutant degradation rate (4.71 × 10−2 g min−1 m−2), which can be attributed to their unique ring structures and band potentials. Thus, the surfactant-mediated chemical conversion strategy not only paves a new way to enhance the photocatalytic activity of bismuth oxyhalides, but also provides an important large-scale route for designing other nanomaterials with ring-like structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]