Nanomaterials for Photocatalysis
Taking inspiration from biological photosynthesis processes, photocatalysis has emerged as a powerful tool for utilizing sustainable solar energy to drive chemical and fuel production and to degrade pollutants. The photocatalytic process involves a series of complex steps among which the core events are: light absorption by photocatalysts, generation and migration of charge carriers, and surface redox reactions. Photocatalysts must maximize progression of each of these steps in order to optimize photocatalytic efficiency. Due to the inherent incompetency in light harvesting and charge carrier separation, a pristine semiconductor photocatalyst often exhibits limited photocatalytic performance. To overcome these limitations, various strategies have been developed to tailor the electronic structure and optical properties of semiconductor nanomaterials, including the construction of heterojunctions, elemental doping, and coupling with co-catalysts.
This Collection showcases some of our latest publications on the design of highly efficient photocatalysts.
