4.8 Review

Vacancy Engineering in Semiconductor Photocatalysts: Implications in Hydrogen Evolution and Nitrogen Fixation Applications

Journal

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
Volume 31, Issue 28, Pages -

Publisher

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202009807

Keywords

defect engineering; nitrogen fixation; photocatalysis; vacancies; water splitting

Funding

  1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Surface modification and defect engineering are effective methods to improve the photocatalytic performance of materials. Defect engineering can tune the optical, charge separation, and surface properties of materials, aiding in the adsorption of reactants.
It is a well-known fact that the pronounced photogenerated charge recombination and poor light absorption are the main bottlenecks of photocatalysis applications. The conventional approaches to address these problems involve bandgap engineering and suppression of charge recombination after light irradiation, which results in an enhancement in the photocatalytic performance of the materials. However, the most essential aspect of surface modification to engineer active sites on the catalyst surface is generally not given much importance. Contrary to this, defect engineering is another approach by which the optical, charge separation, and surface properties of the photocatalytic materials can be tuned. In this review article, the effect of the introduction of vacancies on the photocatalytic properties of selected semiconductor materials, viz., metal oxides, perovskite oxides, metal sulfides, oxyhalides, and nitrides is comprehensively summarized. The engineering of vacancies in these materials not only improves their optical and charge transfer properties but also affects the surface properties, which are helpful in the adsorption of the reactants on catalyst surface. Herein, photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and nitrogen fixation applications of vacancy engineered materials are discussed in detail along with the current trends, scalability requirements, and rigorous experimental protocols.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.8
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available