Carbon-Based Nanomaterials via Heterojunction Serving as Photocatalyst.

Noureen Syed,Liyun Cao,Xiao Wang,Yongqiang Feng,Jianfeng Huang

doi:10.3389/fchem.2019.00713

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting is of auspicious possibility to resolve the energy shortage and environmental anxieties. In the past decade, the combination of different carbon-based allotropes with semiconductors of different structure and unique properties to construct heterojunction, which can improve the charge separation, light absorption, and steadiness, offer a promising way to achieve efficient photocatalyst. This review aims to provide an overview of the development for the carbon nanomaterials (CNMs)-based photocatalysts used for hydrogen production from water splitting and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in waste water. The recent progress of CNMs-based heterojunction, including various composite with graphene, fullerene, carbon quantum dots (CQDs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were highlighted. Furthermore, a typical model of CNMs-based Z-scheme heterojunction was also addressed. Finally, a promising perspective on the future development of CNMs-based photocatalysts have been discussed.

Highlights

Photocatalysts facing toward energy crisis and environmental issues have attracted increased intention as one of the best way for the reduction of toxic contaminants and H2 production (Hisatomi et al, 2014; Low et al, 2015; Dai et al, 2017; Liu G. et al, 2019)
Challenges for the photocatalysts remains regarding to the limited light absorption, high charge recombination, and low quantum yield (Sudhaik et al, 2018)
The electronic structure and photocatalytic properties of carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) could be adjusted through morphology and interfacial modulation (Xin et al, 2018)

Summary

Introduction

Photocatalysts facing toward energy crisis and environmental issues have attracted increased intention as one of the best way for the reduction of toxic contaminants and H2 production (Hisatomi et al, 2014; Low et al, 2015; Dai et al, 2017; Liu G. et al, 2019). Up to now various photocatalysts have been developed to resolve these issues, among which carbon-based photocatalysts recently aroused tremendous interest due to their large surface area, favorable electronic conductivity, low fabrication cost, and high chemical/thermal stability (Yang et al, 2014; Xia et al, 2017; Ma et al, 2018). These unique properties make carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) as the most promising candidate for photocatalysts (Yu et al, 2014). Pristine CNMs suffer from rapid recombination of electron-hole pair and narrow visible light adsorption

Objectives

Conclusion