Local-interaction-field-coupled semiconductor photocatalysis: recent progress and future challenges

Abstract

Photocatalytic solar-energy conversion is of great interest because of its tremendous potential to address the global energy crisis and environmental issues. Many strategies have been developed in the past few years to address the serious drawback of sluggish separation and migration kinetics of charge carriers. One of the most useful strategies in recent years has been the introduction of a local interaction field into the system due to its significant capacity toward separating photogenerated electron–hole pairs and some other advantages (i.e., promoting mass transfer, affecting reaction pathways, etc.). This review attempts to summarize the recent progress made in the rational design and construction of the local field in the photocatalysis community, mainly including the electric field, thermal field, magnetic field, ultrasonic field, and multifield coupling. The photocatalytic properties and charge transfer pathways of these systems are presented based on environmental and energy applications, for instance, water splitting, degradation of pollutants, small-molecule activation, and other semiconductor-induced chemical transformations. Finally, we discuss the existing challenges and prospects in utilizing the local field to improve the solar-energy conversion efficiency.