Recent progress of tungsten- and molybdenum-based semiconductor materials for solar-hydrogen production

Abstract

Semiconductor-based solar water splitting is regarded as one of the most promising technologies for clean hydrogen production. The rational design of semiconductor materials is critically important to achieve high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiencies towards practical applications. A rich family of tungsten- and molybdenum-based materials have been developed as both photocatalysts and cocatalysts for solar-hydrogen production in the past years, providing more opportunities to achieve high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies. In this review article, we comprehensively review the recent progress of tungsten- and molybdenum-based materials for solar-hydrogen production. In particular, the strengths and drawbacks of each material system are critically discussed, followed by an overview of the emerging strategies to improve their performances. Finally, the key challenges and possible research directions of tungsten- and molybdenum-based materials are presented, which would provide useful information for the design of efficient semiconductor materials for solar-hydrogen production.