Efficient photocatalysis triggered by thin carbon layers coating on photocatalysts:recent progress and future perspectives

Solar-energy-driven photocatalysis,such as photocatalytic reduction of CO2,is promising simultaneously for the energy and environmental issues.Coating thin carbon layers with the thickness less than 10 nm on photocatalysts has been developed as an efficient strategy for enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency in recent years.In the present review,we summarize the crucial progress on carbon-coated photocatalysts.Origins for the improved light absorption,charge separation,reactant adsorption and photocatalytic stability on carbon-coated photocatalysts as well as the applications of carbon-coated photocatalysts are discussed.Future opportunities and challenges associated with carbon-coated photocatalysts are shown at the end of the review.We hope that the present review can trigger more deep insights on carbon-coated photocatalysts and provide new opportunities for developing low-cost but efficient photocatalysts.

Recent progresses on improving CO_(2)adsorption and proton production for enhancing efficiency of photocatalytic CO_(2)reduction by H_(2)O

Photocatalytically reducing CO_(2)by H_(2)O into valuable carbon-containing chemicals is one of the greatest concerns for both scientific and industrial communities,due to its great potential in solving energy and environmental problems.However,the photocatalytic reduction efficiency is still much lower than the need of large-scale applications.Abilities of photocatalysts in adsorbing CO_(2)and splitting H_(2)O to produce protons are crucial factors determining the photocatalytic reduction efficiency.Significant research efforts have been devoted to addressing the issues on CO_(2)adsorption and proton production.The present review discusses the recent progresses in improving CO_(2)adsorption and proton production on photocatalysts for increasing the photocatalytic reduction efficiency.Future research opportunities and challenges are also discussed.It is hoped that the present review can stimulate more deep insights on adsorption of CO_(2)and production of proton for increasing the photocatalytic reduction efficiency。