Photocatalytic water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is a method to directly convert light energy into storable chemical energy, and has received considerable attention for use in large-scale solar energy utilization. Particulate semiconductors are generally used as photocatalysts, and semiconductor properties such as bandgap, band positions, and photocarrier mobility can heavily impact phot...

photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to formaldehyde was investigated on four semiconductor photocatalysts (fes, fes/fes2, nio and tio2). the reaction was carried out in continues flow of co2 gas bubbled into the reactor. semiconductor photocatalysts were characterized by x-ray diffraction (xrd) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopic (drs) methods. sulfide ion was used as hole scavenger. t...

Graphene-based photocatalysts have gained increasing interest as a viable alternate to increase photocatalytic H2 production performance in converting solar energy into chemical energy. The use of graphene to enhance the efficiency of photocatalysts has been proved due to its unique two-dimensional conjugated structure and electronic properties. In this Perspective, we have summarized the recen...

A photocatalytic reaction involves charge separation and transfer under photoirradiation, and the photogenerated charge carriers (holes and electrons) are responsible for the photocatalytic activity of the catalyst. The active centres in a single-site photocatalyst are the isolated and spatially separated sites that may interact with reactants after photo-irradiation. Generally, single-site pho...

Semiconductor photocatalysts that can effectively utilize solar irradiation hold great potential for harnessing renewable-energy sources, as well as for environmental protection and -remediation. Exploring advanced photocatalysts that have improved performance has been a central theme in photocatalysis research. Herein, we review the recent developments in the design- and fabrication of photoca...

Hydrothermally and sol-gel-synthesized immobilized surfactant-modified polyaniline-carbon nanotubes/TiO₂ (PANi-CNT/TiO₂) photocatalysts were prepared and their application in the degradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) under visible light at 410 nm was investigated in this sturdy. To improve the dispersion of nanoparticles and the transfer of electrons, the TiO₂ surface was modified with both so...

Photocatalysis has attracted worldwide attention due to its potential in solar energy conversion. As a "green" advanced oxidation technology, it has been extensively used for water disinfection and wastewater treatment. This article provides a review of the recent progress in solar energy-induced photocatalytic disinfection of bacteria, focusing on the development of highly efficient photocatal...

Graphene modified TiO₂ composite photocatalysts have drawn increasing attention because of their high performance. Some significant advancements have been achieved with the continuous research, such as the corresponding photocatalytic mechanism that has been revealed. Specific influencing factors have been discovered and potential optimizing methods are proposed. The latest developments in grap...

The use of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as heterogeneous photocatalysts is critically reviewed. First we revisit the general assumption of MOFs behaving truly as semiconductors, demonstrating that such semiconducting behaviour only occurs in a very limited subset of materials. Further, the main approaches for efficient light harvesting and active site engineering in MOF-based photocatalysts ...

In this paper, we present a first principles high throughput screening system to search for new water-splitting photocatalysts. We use the approach to screen through nitrides and oxynitrides. Most of the known photocatalysts materials in the screened chemical space are reproduced. In addition, sixteen new materials are suggested by the screening approach as promising photocatalysts, including t...