Recent Advances in Photocatalysts Materials
A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials for Energy Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2025 | Viewed by 25
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO); photocatalysis; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; optical emission spectroscopy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Recent advances in photocatalyst materials represent a rapidly evolving field that brings together physicists, materials scientists and chemists from around the world. In focus are materials that use light to drive chemical reactions, with significant emphasis on enhancing their efficiency and expanding their applications. While traditional semiconductor photocatalysts, such as TiO₂, have dominated the field for decades, novel materials and strategies are pushing the boundaries of performance.
Recent progress in photocatalyst design is marked by both incremental but innovative modifications to existing materials and entirely new approaches. Among the cutting-edge developments are hybrid photocatalysts, including those based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and perovskites, which offer unprecedented versatility and tunability. Additionally, nanostructuring and surface engineering have allowed researchers to manipulate light absorption and reaction kinetics in ways not previously possible.
The mechanisms behind photocatalysis are now better understood, including charge carrier generation, separation, and transfer. This has led to improved material properties, such as enhanced stability, broader light absorption spectra, and higher quantum efficiencies. Some photocatalysts can now operate under visible light or even near-infrared light, expanding their potential in environmental applications, such as water splitting, CO₂ reduction, and organic pollutant degradation.
Despite these advances, several key questions remain. Can we overcome the inherent limitations of currently used materials, such as their low efficiency in converting solar energy to chemical energy? How do we control photocatalytic activity under different conditions, including light intensity and wavelength conditions? Crucially, how can we scale up these materials for industrial use? Research continues to explore these challenges, generating promising results that suggest practical applications may be closer than ever.
This overview of recent advances underscores the dynamic nature of photocatalyst research, where fundamental scientific questions intersect with the practical need for cleaner, more efficient energy sources. As this field progresses, it continues to open new possibilities in sustainable chemistry and environmental remediation.
Dr. Kristina Mojsilovic
Prof. Dr. Stevan Stojadinović
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- photocatalysis
- heterogeneous photocatalysis
- hybrid materials
- hydrogen evolution
- titanium
- aluminum
- magnesium
- scanning electron microscopy
- X-ray diffraction
- transport properties
- UV lamp
- solar spectrum
- LDHs
- MOFs
- zeolites
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