Since conventional techniques are ineffective for NO removal at low concentrations,
photocatalysis has become attractive in this regard, recently. However, in practice, photocatalytic
NO removal has drawbacks such as limited light absorption and the proclivity of producing toxic
by-products. To address these issues, novel defective Bi/Bi3NbO7 structures with good porosity
were fabricated by a solvothermal method and used for enhanced photocatalytic NO removal under
visible light irradiation. The morphological and structural properties of the prepared materials were
comprehensively analyzed. The optimal photocatalytic activity of pore-defective Bi/Bi3NbO7 for
NO removal was 60.3%, when the molar ratios of urea and Bi(NO)35H2O to pristine Bi3NbO7 were
1:25 and 1:2, respectively, under the following operational conditions: NO concentration of 700 ppb,
catalyst dosage of 50 mg and irradiation time of 14 min. The induced defects and the surface plasmon
resonance (SPR) effect of Bi nanodots made remarkable contributions to improving the photocatalytic
NO removal as well as inhibiting the toxic byproduct NO2. The photocatalytic NO removal pathway
over the prepared photocatalysts was further mechanistically clarified taking advantage of EPR
results and scavenging experiments. Considering the increased NO generation in the atmosphere,
this work may provide novel insights for designing effective porous photocatalysts to treat gaseous
toxic pollutants.