Principles and applications of photothermal catalysis

Abstract

Solar energy provides an alternative, sustainable, and clean source of energy to meet the global energy demands without extra carbon emissions. However, the utilization efficiency of sunlight via most traditional photocatalytic processes remains relatively low. Photothermal catalysis, combining the advantages of photocatalysis and thermocatalysis, has emerged as a new fast-growing research area. In this review, we first discuss three different mechanisms of photothermal effects and then describe the functioning principles of photothermal catalysis. We categorize the photothermal catalysts into three types based on their specific coupling modes of thermochemical and photochemical pathways. We also illustrate the catalyst design strategies and characterization methods for photothermal catalysis. As specific examples of applications, we summarize the recent research progress on the photothermal catalytic reactions for CO 2 conversion, CH 4 activation, NH 3 synthesis, and water splitting. Last, we present the challenges and perspectives in this field, as a guide for future development in photothermal catalysis. Sunlight harvesting and conversion is a challenging and active research area. Photothermal catalysis, as a promising technology, can dramatically enhance the catalytic activity and modulate the catalytic pathway due to a synergy between photochemical and thermochemical reaction pathways. It is pivotal to improving the photothermal catalytic conversion by exploring efficient photothermal catalysts with intense broadband solar energy absorption and high efficiency of solar-to-heat conversion. Understanding the synergy of light and heat underlying photothermal effects is of significant importance for enhancing photothermal catalytic performance. In this review, we present the functioning principles and categories of photothermal catalysis, catalyst design criteria and strategies, and recent progress in applying photothermal catalysis in several important reactions of heterogeneous catalysis. In this review, Ding and colleagues summarize the functioning principles and categories of photothermal catalysis, catalyst design criteria and strategies, and recent progress in applying photothermal catalysis in several important reactions of heterogeneous catalysis.