Defect-mediated electron–hole separation in semiconductor photocatalysis

Defects play important roles in semiconductor photocatalysis, which not only can act as active sites but also serve as recombination centers for electrons and holes. The rational control of defects appears to be particularly important. Defect engineering in semiconductor electron–hole separation is...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Inorganic chemistry frontiers 2018-01, Vol.5 (6), p.1240-1254
Main Authors: Zhou, Wei, Fu, Honggang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Defects
Electron recombination
Electrons
Inorganic chemistry
Photocatalysis
Separation
Stability
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Defects play important roles in semiconductor photocatalysis, which not only can act as active sites but also serve as recombination centers for electrons and holes. The rational control of defects appears to be particularly important. Defect engineering in semiconductor electron–hole separation is complex but vital for photocatalysis, and the exact control of defects still presents a great challenge. This review endeavors to clarify the inherent functionality of different defects such as bulk defects and surface/interface defects. The common defects such as oxygen vacancies and Mn+ defects have been summarized and discussed. The controllable creation of defects could lead to defect channels via defect–strain coupling, defect–defect and defect–electron interactions, which contribute to the enhancement in electronic conductivity and the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. The deep understanding of defects can consolidate the fundamental photocatalytic theory and provide new insights for rationally designing defect-engineered semiconductor photocatalytic materials with satisfactory performance.
ISSN:2052-1545
2052-1553
DOI:10.1039/c8qi00122g