ATaO(3) (A = Li, Na, K) compound oxides exhibit photocatalytic activity for the reduction of CO2 in the presence of H-2. Only CO gas was generated over all samples under photoirradiation. The photocatalytic activity was higher in the order corresponding to KTaO3, NaTaO3 and LiTaO3 (LiTaO3 > NaTaO3 > KTaO3). The order of the photocatalytic activities was consistent with that of the E-g (optical gap) values. After 24 h of photoirradiation, the amount of evolved CO reached 0.42 mu mol g(-1) over LiTaO3. TPD experiments indicated that the broad peak which is assigned to chemisorbed CO2 gas was observed at 573 K in the case of LiTaO3. On the contrary, there was no peak in the spectra of NaTaO3 and ICTaO3. The amount of evolved CO gas almost strongly depends on the amount of chemisorbed CO2 in the case of ATaO(3) (A = Li, Na, K). In addition, the photocatalytic activity increased with increasing the calcination temperature of LiTaO3. This means that a smooth charge separation in a LiTaO3 photocatalyst and chemisorption of CO2 on the surface contribute to effective reduction of CO2 in the presence of H-2. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.