Solar-energy-driven value-added oxidation processes

Abstract

Climate change has driven the development of sustainable catalytic processes to power our society. Applying solar energy to drive catalytic reactions is regarded as a green chemistry for value-added conversions. The photogenerated electrons have been applied for many promising processes such as hydrogen production, carbon dioxide reduction and nitrogen fixation, but the photogenerated holes are less focused on. Other than the traditional oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which has low economic value, some more promising reactions are expected to be explored, including water oxidation for hydrogen peroxide generation and methane oxidation for methanol generation. In this review, we will summarize the alternative partial water oxidation reaction (PWOR) and partial methane oxidation reaction (PMOR) for the production of useful hydrogen peroxide and methanol, respectively. Advanced materials engineering has been implemented to perform valuable conversions of photogenerated holes. The design concepts, principles, and traditional catalysts for PWOR and PMOR have been summarized. It is expected that this review will advance solar-driven reactions to another innovative stage with the aim of creating more value from photogenerated charges.