Recent progress on the solid-state materials for photocatalysis

TL;DR

This review discusses recent advances in solid-state materials, especially 2D and 3D structures, for photocatalytic hydrogen production, highlighting their mechanisms, advantages, and recent developments in the field.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the photocatalytic performance of 2D and 3D bulk materials and discusses recent progress in 2D materials and composites as photocatalysts.

Findings

2D materials show superior photocatalytic performance due to their ultrathin structures.

Analysis of drawbacks in current hydrogen production methods.

Recent developments highlight 2D materials as promising photocatalysts.

Abstract

Hydrogen is considered an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels for the fulfilment of current energy demands. Photocatalysis initiates the hydrogen evolution reaction which is believed to be the greenest approach to produce hydrogen through clean, safe, and environmentally friendly methods. In this Review, we focus mainly on the comprehensive analysis of the 2D and 3D bulk materials on the basis of their superior photocatalytic activities. However, several literatures have reported the superiority of 2D material over the bulk counterpart in terms of photocatalytic performance owing to their ultrathin layered structures, offer a higher surface-to-volume ratio, flexibility, large active sites for incoming H2O molecules, etc. We have thoroughly analysed the drawbacks of various hydrogen production methods focusing on the photocatalysis mechanism and the processes of evolution of hydrogen. In addition to this, a short overview of the various solid-state materials for photocatalysis that have been developed so far and their mechanisms are discussed. Lastly, we have discussed the recent developments in 2D materials and their composites as promising photocatalysts.