Organic-inorganic heterojunction photocatalysts: From organic molecules to frameworks

• Published in: Materials science in semiconductor processing 2023-09, Vol.164, p.107623, Article 107623
• Main Authors: Ye, Baoqian, Wang, Weikang, Wang, Lele, Tang, Hua, Hu, Jie, Liu, Qinqin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Organic-inorganic heterojunctions; Photocatalysis; S-scheme; Synergistic effect; Z-scheme
• ISSN: 1369-8001; 1873-4081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2023.107623

The clean and abundant solar energy has been proven to be a promising alternative energy source for traditional fossil fuel. Inspired by natural biological photosynthesis, global scientists developed numerous artificial photocatalytic systems to converted solar energy into chemical energy (including degradation, CO2 reduction, N2 fixation, water splitting, etc.). Nevertheless, current photocatalytic activity is hindered by various factors such as severe recombination of photogenerated charges, insufficient reduction/oxidation potentials, inadequate light-harvesting, and photocorrosion. Thus, it is urgent to design more efficient and stable photocatalysis systems. This review main focuses on recent advances in organic-inorganic heterojunction photocatalysts, based on organic semiconductors from molecules to frameworks. The synergistic effect between organic and inorganic components, and meaningful heterojunctions (like S-scheme or Z-scheme) are emphasized in this work. Finally, the outlooks and challenges for efficient inorganic-organic composites systems are also proposed.