| Summary: | Solar-driven hydrogen production from water has attracted increasing attention due to sustainable H<sub>2</sub> fuel generation with zero-emissions. However, the design of a photocatalyst without noble metals to enable efficient water splitting is still critical for practical applications. In this study, the hierarchical microspheres of SrWO<sub>4</sub> assembled with well-defined metallic Bi nanoparticles were synthesized through mild hydrothermal aging. The resultant photocatalyst with optimum proportion exhibited the competitive performance of a high hydrogen-generation rate at 4.5 mmol·h<sup>−1</sup>·g<sup>−1</sup>, outperforming SrWO<sub>4</sub> and Bi by factors of 2.0 and 2.4, respectively. Both the experimental characterization and active analysis revealed that the synergistic effect of noble metal-like behavior of Bi and their electron-sink capacity mainly contribute to boosting the overall photocatalytic efficiency. This work may provide advanced insights into the application of economical bismuth elements as co-catalysts, instead of noble metals, to improve photocatalytic efficiency in solar-fuel conversion and environmental remediation.
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