Chapter 5 - Nanoparticles within functional frameworks and their applications in photo(electro)catalysis

Abstract

With the potential energy crisis and the rising awareness in environmental protection, photo(electro)catalysis, which utilizes the abundant light as energy source in the chemical transformations, has attracted intensive attention in the last few decades. Now it is considered as one of the most advanced, environmentally friendly, and prospective technologies because of its excellent advantages such as clean, efficient, cost-effective, and energy-saving properties. Various nanoparticles (e.g., metal oxides, nanocomposites, metal organic frameworks, g-C3N4, and graphene oxides) were reported as heterogeneous photocatalysts with applications in water splitting, CO2 reduction, organic transformations, water disinfection, and so on. In this chapter, common methods for catalyst preparation will be briefly discussed, following by the introduction of nanostructured catalysts and their applications in photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis.