Chinese Journal of Catalysis 41 (2020) 642–671 催化学报 2020年 第41卷 第4期 |
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Review
The roles and mechanism of cocatalysts in photocatalytic water
splitting to produce hydrogen
Nan Xiao a,b, Songsong Li b, Xuli Li b, Lei Ge a,b,*, Yangqin Gao b, Ning Li b
a State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
b Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of New Energy and Materials, China University of Petroleum Beijing, Beijing 102249, China
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history: Received 26 September 2019 Accepted 17 October 2019 Published 5 April 2020 Photocatalytic hydrogen (H2) evolution via water spilling over semiconductors has been considered to be one of the most promising strategies for sustainable energy supply in the future to provide non-pollution and renewable energy. The key to efficient conversion of solar-chemical energy is the design of an efficient structure for high charge separation and transportation. Therefore, cocatalysts are necessary in boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution. To date, semiconductor photocatalysts have been modified by various cocatalysts due to the extended light harvest, enhanced charge carrier separation efficiency and improved stability. This review focuses on recent developments of cocat-alysts in photocatalytic H2 evolution, the roles and mechanism of the cocatalysts are discussed in detail. The cocatalysts can be divided into the following categories: metal/alloy cocatalysts, metal phosphides cocatalysts, metal oxide/hydroxide cocatalysts, carbon-based cocatalysts, dual cocata-lysts, Z-scheme cocatalysts and MOFs cocatalysts. The future research and forecast for photocata-lytic hydrogen generation are also suggested. © 2020, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Keywords: Cocatalysts Photocatalytsts Hydrogen evolution Charge separation Water splitting