Luo Jinming, Zhang Shuqu, Sun Meng, Yang Lixia, Luo Shenglian, Crittenden John C
Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology , 828 West Peachtree Street , Atlanta , Georgia 30332 , United States.
Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Persistent Pollutants Control and Resources Recycle , Nanchang Hangkong University , Nanchang 330063 , Jiangxi Province , People's Republic of China.
ACS Nano. 2019 Sep 24;13(9):9811-9840. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.9b03649. Epub 2019 Aug 2.
Solar energy is a renewable resource that can supply our energy needs in the long term. A semiconductor photocatalysis that is capable of utilizing solar energy has appealed to considerable interests for recent decades, owing to the ability to aim at environmental problems and produce renewal energy. Much effort has been put into the synthesis of a highly efficient semiconductor photocatalyst to promote its real application potential. Hence, we reviewed the most advanced methods and strategies in terms of (i) broadening the light absorption wavelengths, (ii) design of active reaction sites, and (iii) control of the electron-hole (-) recombination, while these three processes could be influenced by remodeling the crystal lattice, surface, and interface. Additionally, we individually examined their current applications in energy conversion (.., hydrogen evolution, CO reduction, nitrogen fixation, and oriented synthesis) and environmental remediation (.., air purification and wastewater treatment). Overall, in this review, we particularly focused on advanced photocatalytic activity with simultaneous wastewater decontamination and energy conversion and further enriched the mechanism by proposing the electron flow and substance conversion. Finally, this review offers the prospects of semiconductor photocatalysts in the following three vital (distinct) aspects: (i) the large-scale preparation of highly efficient photocatalysts, (ii) the development of sustainable photocatalysis systems, and (iii) the optimization of the photocatalytic process for practical application.
太阳能是一种可再生资源，能够长期满足我们的能源需求。近几十年来，一种能够利用太阳能的半导体光催化技术引起了广泛关注，这是因为它有能力解决环境问题并产生可再生能源。人们在合成高效半导体光催化剂方面付出了巨大努力，以提升其实际应用潜力。因此，我们从以下几个方面综述了最先进的方法和策略：（i）拓宽光吸收波长；（ii）设计活性反应位点；（iii）控制电子-空穴（-）复合，而这三个过程可通过重塑晶格、表面和界面来加以影响。此外，我们还分别考察了它们目前在能量转换（如析氢、CO还原、固氮和定向合成）以及环境修复（如空气净化和废水处理）方面的应用。总体而言，在本综述中，我们特别关注同时具备废水净化和能量转换功能的先进光催化活性，并通过提出电子流和物质转化来进一步丰富其作用机制。最后，本综述从以下三个重要（不同）方面展望了半导体光催化剂的前景：（i）高效光催化剂的大规模制备；（ii）可持续光催化系统的开发；（iii）光催化过程在实际应用中的优化。
