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Since the report of the Honda-Fujishima effect, heterogeneous photocatalysis has attracted much attention around the world because of its potential energy and environmental applications. Although great progresses have been made in recent years, most were focused on preparing highly-active photocatalysts and investigating visible light utilization. In fact, we are still unclear on the thermodynamic and kinetic nature of photocatalysis to date, which sometimes leads to misunderstandings for experimental results. It is timely to give a review and discussion on the thermodynamics and kinetics of photocatalysis, so as to direct future researches. However, there is an absence of a detailed review on this topic until now. In this article, we tried to review and discuss the thermodynamics and kinetics of photocatalysis. We explained the thermodynamic driving force of photocatalysis, and distinguished the functions of light and heat in photocatalysis. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model, the ˙OH oxidation mechanism, and the direct-indirect (D-I) kinetic model were reviewed and compared. Some applications of the D-I model to study photocatalytic kinetics were also discussed. The electron transport mode and its importance in photocatalysis were investigated. Finally, the intrinsic relation between the kinetics and the thermodynamics of photocatalytic reactions was discussed.

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Titanium dioxide (TiO 2) is regarded as an important prototype photocatalytic material for several decades. The charge carrier kinetics determines the photocatalytic properties of TiO 2 materials; this is found to be greatly dependent on electronic structures. It has been revealed that the intrinsic intermediate gap states (intrinsic GSs) play a significant role in charge carrier kinetics that drive the photocatalytic processes of TiO 2 materials, which are not well summarized until now. Motivated by this thought, the purpose of this review focuses on physiochemical science of the intrinsic GSs of TiO 2 materials and their important role in charge carrier kinetics. We first give a summary on the chemical resources of the intrinsic GSs in TiO 2 and their physiochemical nature. Their general energy distribution, charge carrier population, and the associated thermodynamic properties are also elaborated from an overall viewpoint. We further carefully summarize and compare the experimental studies on the energy and the density distribution of the intrinsic GSs and discuss the associated chemical resources and charge carrier localizations. Trapping is the dominant function of intrinsic GSs in the charge carrier kinetics of TiO 2 materials. The significant effect of trapping on the transport, recombination, and interfacial transfer of charge carriers are also comprehensive summarized. Furthermore, the effects of charge carrier kinetics on photocatalytic performances are also discussed to some extents. Because of the importance of intrinsic GSs in modulating charge carrier kinetics, it is expected to increase the photocatalytic activity by engineering the intrinsic GSs, not only for TiO 2 materials, but also for the other semiconductor photocatalysts.

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CuCoO2 crystals were prepared at 100 °C through a hydrothermal method and used for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline solution.