CHAPTER 4: Recent Advances in Photocatalytic Materials for Solar Fuel Production from Water and Carbon Dioxide

In recent years, photocatalysis has received significant attention because of its clean way of converting water or carbon dioxide into sustainable chemical fuels, providing promising and viable routes to overcome both renewable energy demand and global climate change. This chapter focuses on recent progress in the design and synthesis of sustainable photocatalytic materials, namely novel metal oxides, perovskites, metal–organic frameworks, metal sulfides, layered double hydroxides and plasmonic and metal-free materials. Advances in the preparation of these photocatalysts are reviewed, revealing efficient strategies to enhance their photocatalytic activity to produce hydrogen and carbon-based fuels such as carbon monoxide and methane from inexhaustible water and carbon dioxide. Emphasis is given to the strategies that maximize the visible light absorption of the solar spectrum and charge separation and transfer; for example, through forming heterojunctions of nanostructured materials. This chapter also highlights various strategies adopted for improving not only the photoconversion efficiency, but also the selectivity of certain carbon-based fuels. Adopting these advances within the scientific community will ensure more rapid progress towards high solar to fuel conversions and future commercialization of photocatalytic devices.