A Mini-Review on Nanostructured g-C3N4 Photocatalysts for Solar Fuel Production

Future Research ◽

Solar Fuel ◽

Fuel Production ◽

Electronic Band ◽

Research Attention ◽

Electron Hole Pair ◽

Photocatalytic Material ◽

Solar Fuel Generation

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is an important photocatalytic material that receives a lot of research attention globally. This is because of its favourable thermal and chemical stability as well as electronic band structure. However, the photocatalytic performance of the bulk g-C3N4 is limited by fast recombination of electron-hole pair and poor visible light-harvesting ability. Thus, different strategies, such as heterostructuring, nanotuning, doping, etc., have been adopted to overcome the aforementioned challenges to enhance the photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4. In recent times, various nanostructured g-C3N4 photocatalytic materials with various tuned morphologies have been designed and fabricated in literature for different photocatalytic activities. This mini-review summarized the progress development of nanostructured g-C3N4 photocatalysts with various tuned morphologies for solar fuel generation. The article briefly highlights the research status of various g-C3N4 with tuned morphologies and enhanced solar fuel generation abilities. Finally, a conclusion and future research were also suggested, opening up new areas on g-C3N4 photocatalysis.

Ag3PO4Semiconductor Photocatalyst: Possibilities and Challenges

Journal of Nanomaterials ◽

10.1155/2013/371356 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Gui-Fang Huang ◽

Zhi-Li Ma ◽

Wei-Qing Huang ◽

Yong Tian ◽

Chao Jiao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Recent Progress ◽

Catalytic Performance ◽

Future Research ◽

Fuel Production ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

Research Activities ◽

Composite Photocatalysts ◽

The Stability ◽

Exposed Facets

Ag3PO4as a photocatalyst has attracted enormous attention in recent years due to its great potential in harvesting solar energy for environmental purification and fuel production. The photocatalytic performance of Ag3PO4strongly depends on its morphology, exposed facets, and particle size. The effects of morphology and orientation of Ag3PO4on the catalytic performance and the efforts on the stability improvement of Ag3PO4are reviewed here. This paper also discusses the current theoretical understanding of photocatalytic mechanism of Ag3PO4, together with the recent progress towards developing Ag3PO4composite photocatalysts. The crucial issues that should be addressed in future research activities are finally highlighted.

A retrospective on MXene-based composites for solar fuel production

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1515/pac-2020-0704 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 92 (12) ◽

pp. 1953-1969

Author(s):

Yisong Zhu ◽

Zhenjun Wu ◽

Xiuqiang Xie ◽

Nan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Artificial Photosynthesis ◽

Future Research ◽

Solar Fuel ◽

Fuel Production ◽

Promising Candidate ◽

Research Directions ◽

Composite Photocatalysts ◽

Future Research Directions ◽

General Synthesis ◽

Photocatalytic Applications

AbstractMXene with two-dimensional layered structure and desirable electronic properties has emerged as a promising candidate to construct MXene-based composites towards various photocatalytic applications. As compared to the downhill-type photodegradation reactions, artificial photosynthesis often involves thermodynamic uphill reactions with a large positive change in Gibbs free energy. Recent years have witnessed the effectiveness of MXene in enhancing the photoactivity of MXene-based composites for solar fuel synthesis. In this review, we mainly focus on the applications of MXene-based composites for photocatalytic solar fuel production. We will start from summarizing the general synthesis of MXene-based composite photocatalysts. Then the recent progress on MXene-based composite photocatalysts for solar fuel synthesis, including water splitting for H2 production, CO2 reduction to solar fuels, and N2 fixation for NH3 synthesis is elucidated. The roles of MXene playing in improving the photoactivity of MXene-based composites in these applications have also been discussed. In the last section, perspectives on the future research directions of MXene-based composites towards the applications of artificial photosynthesis are presented.

Intriguing electronic, optical and photocatalytic performance of BSe, M2CO2 monolayers and BSe–M2CO2 (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) van der Waals heterostructures

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/d1ra07569a ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 42-52

Author(s):

M. Munawar ◽

M. Idrees ◽

Iftikhar Ahmad ◽

H. U. Din ◽

B. Amin

Keyword(s):

Density Functional Theory ◽

Band Structure ◽

Density Functional ◽

Van Der Waals ◽

Density Functional Theory Calculations ◽

Van Der Waals Heterostructures ◽

Electronic Band ◽

Functional Theory

Using density functional theory calculations, we have investigated the electronic band structure, optical and photocatalytic response of BSe, M2CO2 (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) monolayers and their corresponding BSe–M2CO2 (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) van der Waals heterostructures.

Understanding metal–organic frameworks for photocatalytic solar fuel production

CrystEngComm ◽

10.1039/c7ce00006e ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (29) ◽

pp. 4118-4125 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

J. G. Santaclara ◽

F. Kapteijn ◽

J. Gascon ◽

M. A. van der Veen

Keyword(s):

Physical Properties ◽

Metal Organic Frameworks ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Solar Fuel ◽

Fuel Production ◽

Metal Organic ◽

The Right ◽

Solar Fuel Generation

The fascinating chemical and physical properties of MOFs have recently stimulated exploration of their application for photocatalysis. Design guidelines for these materials in photocatalytic solar fuel generation can be developed by applying the right spectroscopic tools.

Photoelectrochemical and electrocatalytic properties of thermally oxidized copper oxide for efficient solar fuel production

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/c4ta00442f ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (20) ◽

pp. 7389-7401 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Angel T. Garcia-Esparza ◽

Kevin Limkrailassiri ◽

Frederic Leroy ◽

Shahid Rasul ◽

Weili Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Copper Oxide ◽

Solar Fuel ◽

Fuel Production ◽

Electrocatalytic Properties ◽

Solar Fuel Generation

A thorough characterization of thermally obtained Cu(i)/Cu(ii) oxide (photo)electrodes has been conducted for applications of solar fuel generation.

First-principles investigation of nonmetal doped single-layer BiOBr as a potential photocatalyst with a low recombination rate

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics ◽

10.1039/d0cp02007a ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (27) ◽

pp. 15354-15364 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Mohammed M. Obeid ◽

C. Stampfl ◽

A. Bafekry ◽

Z. Guan ◽

H. R. Jappor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Band Structure ◽

First Principles ◽

Recombination Rate ◽

Single Layer ◽

Electronic Band ◽

Bismuth Oxyhalides ◽

Nonmetal Doping

Nonmetal doping is an effective approach to modify the electronic band structure and enhance the photocatalytic performance of bismuth oxyhalides.

Electronic band structure and visible-light photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6: elucidating the effect of lutetium doping

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c6ra22669h ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (103) ◽

pp. 101105-101114 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

H. Ait Ahsaine ◽

A. El jaouhari ◽

A. Slassi ◽

M. Ezahri ◽

A. Benlhachemi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Photocatalytic Activity ◽

Band Structure ◽

Visible Light ◽

Photocatalytic Degradation ◽

Active Species ◽

Electronic Band ◽

Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity ◽

Visible Light Photocatalytic

BWO and Lu-BWO were synthesized by coprecipitation method. Lu-BWO sample exhibits the highest visible-light-responsive photocatalytic performance for the degradation of MB. h+ and ˙O2− are the main active species in the photocatalytic degradation.

Oxygen self-doped g-C3N4 with tunable electronic band structure for unprecedentedly enhanced photocatalytic performance

Nanoscale ◽

10.1039/c7nr09660g ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 4515-4522 ◽

Cited By ~ 101

Author(s):

Fangyan Wei ◽

Yang Liu ◽

Heng Zhao ◽

Xiaoning Ren ◽

Jing Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Band Structure ◽

Visible Light ◽

Electronic Band ◽

Excellent Stability

Oxygen self-doped CNO-x with tunable electronic band structure demonstrates unprecedentedly enhanced photodegradation of RhB and photocatalytic H2 production with excellent stability under visible light.