Progress in Developing Metal Oxide Nanomaterials for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting represents an environmentally friendly and sustainable method to obtain hydrogen fuel. Semiconductor materials as the central components in PEC water splitting cells have decisive influences on the device's solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency. Among semiconductors, metal oxides have received a lot of attention due to their outstanding (photo)-electrochemical stability, low cost, favorable band edge positions and wide distribution of bandgaps. In the past decades, significant processes have been made in developing metal oxide nanomaterials for PEC water splitting. In this review, the recent progress using metal oxides as photoelectrodes and co-catalysts for PEC water splitting is summarized. Their performance, limitations and potentials are also discussed. Last, the key challenges and opportunities in the development and implementation of metal oxide nanomaterials for PEC water splitting are discussed.