Hetero-nanostructured suspended photocatalysts for solar-to-fuel conversion

Abstract

The recent developments of hetero-nanostructures for photocatalytic H2production and CO2reduction are reviewed in detail, based on material compositions that form heterojunctions.

Visible Light-Driven H2 Production over Highly Dispersed Ruthenia on Rutile TiO2 Nanorods

“…[1][2][3] Although titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most common semiconductor oxide photocatalyst, [3][4][5][6] its practical application is limited because TiO2 absorbs only a small fraction of solar light and the photogenerated electrons/holes recombine rapidly. 4,5 Anchoring or coupling metal or metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) onto TiO2 has been used to either enhance its solar-conversion efficiency by retarding the charge carrier recombination or extending its response toward the visible light region stemming from band level alignment.…”

Quasi‐Polymeric Metal–Organic Framework UiO‐66/g‐C3N4 Heterojunctions for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution under Visible Light Irradiation

“…Normally, the increased g-C 3 N 4 in hybrids indicates the enlarged interface area between g-C 3 N 4 and UiO-66 and thereby causes the decreased PL intensity. [ 4 ] It was found that increasing the g-C 3 N 4 in UG hybrids causes an increased amount of g-C 3 N 4 that was far away from the UiO-66 and g-C 3 N 4 interfaces, as shown in Figure 2 interfaces in g-C 3 N 4 will release the energy through PL radiation. Therefore, this enhanced PL peak should be ascribed to the increased g-C 3 N 4 that far away from the interfaces.…”

“…[1][2][3] Up to now, researchers have realized that single-component photocatalysts suffer from the rapid charge recombination within the photocatalysts and thereby show limited photocatalytic effi ciency for water splitting. As a consequence, more and more concerns have focused on multi component photocatalysts consisting of semiconductor heterojunctions, [ 4 ] in which the created heterojunctions can promote the charge separation from one component to another, and thereby increase the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity. Nevertheless, these hybrid heterojunctions are mainly composed of metal oxides/sulfi des, which are still enslaved to the limited light absorption and high cost in terms of high metal content in heterojunctions.…”

Nanohybrids of Two‐Dimensional Transition‐Metal Dichalcogenides and Titanium Dioxide for Photocatalytic Applications

“…Therefore, it is highly necessary to construct a hybridp hotocatalystc onsisting of semiconductor heterojunctions both for broadening the range of solar light absorption and facilitating the separation of photogenerated electronhole pairs. [12][13][14] This review aims to offer the latest advancementsi nt he rational design, fabrication, and applicationso f transition-metal dichalcogenide/titanium dioxide (TMDC/TiO 2 ) heterojunction photocatalysts both for hydrogen production and environmental remediation.…”