Issue 8, 2024

Recent progress in atomically precise metal nanoclusters for photocatalytic application

Abstract

Photocatalysis is a widely recognized green and sustainable technology that can harness inexhaustible solar energy to carry out chemical reactions, offering the opportunity to mitigate environmental issues and the energy crisis. Photocatalysts with wide spectral response and rapid charge transfer capability are crucial for highly efficient photocatalytic activity. Atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs), an emerging atomic-level material, have attracted great interests owing to their ultrasmall size, unique atomic stacking, abundant surface active sites, and quantum confinement effect. In particular, the molecule-like discrete electronic energy level endows them with small-band-gap semiconductor behavior, which allows for photoexcitation in order to generate electrons and holes to participate in the photoredox reaction. In addition, metal NCs exhibit strong light-harvesting ability in the wide spectral UV–near IR region, and the diversity of optical absorption properties can be precisely regulated by the composition and structure. These merits make metal NCs ideal candidates for photocatalysis. In this review, the recent advances in atomically-precise metal NCs for photocatalytic application are summarized, including photocatalytic water splitting, CO2 reduction, organic transformation, photoelectrocatalytic reactions, N2 fixation and H2O2 production. In addition, the strategy for promoting photostability, charge transfer and separation efficiency of metal NCs is highlighted. Finally, a perspective on the challenges and opportunities for NCs-based photocatalysts is provided.

Graphical abstract: Recent progress in atomically precise metal nanoclusters for photocatalytic application

Article information

Article type
Minireview
Submitted
08 maj 2024
Accepted
21 jun 2024
First published
24 jun 2024

Nanoscale Horiz., 2024,9, 1262-1278

Recent progress in atomically precise metal nanoclusters for photocatalytic application

Y. Du, C. Li, Y. Dai, H. Yin and M. Zhu, Nanoscale Horiz., 2024, 9, 1262 DOI: 10.1039/D4NH00197D

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