Sari Fitri Nur Indah, Chuang Ping-Chang, Huang Shih-Ching, Lin Chia-Yu, Lai Yi-Hsuan
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University No. 1, University Road Tainan City 701 Taiwan
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University No. 1, University Road Tainan City 701 Taiwan
Chem Sci. 2025 Jul 21. doi: 10.1039/d5sc03146j.
Rapid industrialisation has resulted in severe greenhouse gas emissions through extensive fossil fuel extraction and an increasing volume of solid waste disposal. This perspective review examines the photoelectrochemical (PEC) valorisation of organic waste as a promising solution for addressing the energy crisis and environmental pollution. The current stage of PEC organic valorisation has yet to meet industrial requirements, hindered by its relatively low efficiency, limited robustness, and poor scalability compared to conventional technologies. A better understanding of the working principle of the PEC reaction mechanism, the properties of state-of-the-art photoelectrodes, and the organic waste pre-treatment process is required to pave the path toward practical implementation. In this perspective review, we demonstrate that the strategies employed in the design of photoanodes, including doping, heterojunction formation, co-catalyst modification, nanostructuring, and crystal facet engineering, have different effects on activity, selectivity, and stability. In addition to the hydrogen evolution reaction, selected organic reduction reactions for the synthesis of value-added chemicals in a PEC cell are also discussed, followed by recent progress on integrated PEC cells and their practical assessment for solar fuel and value-added chemical production. Since stability and scalability are also essential parameters beyond efficiency for assessing the techno-economic feasibility of a PEC organic valorisation system, we additionally addressed stability, scalability and the compatibility of photoelectrodes in organic waste valorisation. Finally, conclusions and future perspectives on feasible strategies for PEC valorisation are discussed. We hope this review will serve as a helpful guide in designing effective, robust, and scalable PEC organic waste valorisation systems, making it a viable technology for real-world applications.
快速工业化通过大量的化石燃料开采和日益增加的固体废物处理量导致了严重的温室气体排放。这篇观点综述探讨了有机废物的光电化学（PEC）增值利用，将其作为解决能源危机和环境污染的一种有前景的解决方案。PEC有机增值利用的当前阶段尚未满足工业需求，与传统技术相比，其效率相对较低、稳健性有限且可扩展性较差，这阻碍了该技术的发展。为了为实际应用铺平道路，需要更好地理解PEC反应机理的工作原理、先进光电极的特性以及有机废物预处理过程。在这篇观点综述中，我们表明，光阳极设计中采用的策略，包括掺杂、异质结形成、助催化剂改性、纳米结构化和晶面工程，对活性、选择性和稳定性有不同的影响。除了析氢反应，还讨论了在PEC电池中用于合成增值化学品的选定有机还原反应，随后介绍了集成PEC电池的最新进展及其在太阳能燃料和增值化学品生产方面的实际评估。由于稳定性和可扩展性也是评估PEC有机增值利用系统技术经济可行性时除效率之外的重要参数，我们还讨论了光电极在有机废物增值利用中的稳定性、可扩展性和兼容性。最后，讨论了PEC增值利用可行策略的结论和未来展望。我们希望这篇综述将为设计有效、稳健和可扩展的PEC有机废物增值利用系统提供有益的指导，使其成为实际应用中的可行技术。
