Isolated single-atom platinum (Pt) embedded in the sub-nanoporosity of 2D g-C3 N4 as a new form of co-catalyst is reported. The highly stable single-atom co-catalyst maximizes the atom efficiency and alters the surface trap states of g-C3 N4 , leading to significantly enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activity, 8.6 times higher than that of Pt nanoparticles and up to 50 times that for bare g-C3 N4 .

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The photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to energy carriers has emerged as one of the most promising strategies to alleviate the energy crisis and CO2 pollution, for which the development of catalyst was considered as the determining factor for the accomplishment of this conversion process. In this study, three stable and isostructural metal–organic frameworks (denoted as MOF-Ni, MOF-Co, and MOF-Cu) have been synthesized and used as heterogeneous catalysts in photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). It is worth noting that the MOF-Ni exhibited very high selectivity of 97.7% for photoreducing CO2 to CO, which has exceeded most of the reported MOF-based catalysts in the field. Significantly, the MOFs associated with a monometallic catalytic center offer a simple and precise structural model which allows us to understand more definitively the specific effects of different metal-ion species on photoreduction of CO2 as well as the reactive mechanism.

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