Current understanding and challenges of solar-driven hydrogen generation using polymeric photocatalysts
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The use of hydrogen as a fuel, when generated from water using semiconductor photocatalysts and driven by sunlight, is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Polymeric photocatalysts are based on Earth-abundant elements and have the advantage over their inorganic counterparts in that their electronic properties are easily tuneable through molecular engineering. Polymeric photocatalysts have developed rapidly over the past decade, resulting in the discovery of many active materials. However, our understanding of the key properties underlying their photoinitiated redox processes has not kept pace, and this impedes further progress to generate cost-competitive technologies. Here, we discuss state-of-the-art polymeric photocatalysts and our microscopic understanding of their activities. We conclude with a discussion of five outstanding challenges in this field: non-standardized reporting of activities, limited photochemical stability, insufficient knowledge of reaction mechanisms, balancing charge carrier lifetimes with catalysis timescales and the use of unsustainable sacrificial reagents.
Date Issued
2019-09-01
Date Acceptance
2019-07-26
Citation
Nature Energy, 2019, 4 (9), pp.746-760
ISSN
2058-7546
Publisher
Springer Nature
Start Page
746
End Page
760
Journal / Book Title
Nature Energy
Volume
4
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© Springer Nature Limited 2019. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0456-5
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000486098400009&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Energy & Fuels
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Materials Science
GRAPHITIC CARBON NITRIDE
TRIAZINE-BASED FRAMEWORKS
CONJUGATED MICROPOROUS POLYMERS
COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORK
G-C3N4 QUANTUM DOTS
CARRIER DYNAMICS
CHARGE-TRANSPORT
H-2 PRODUCTION
WATER
EVOLUTION
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-09-09