Jinhua Ye

Semiconductor photocatalysis has received much attention as a potential solution to the worldwide energy shortage and for counteracting environmental degradation. This article reviews state-of-the-art research activities in the field, focusing on the scientific and technological possibilities offered by photocatalytic materials. We begin with a survey of efforts to explore suitable materials and to optimize their energy band configurations for specific applications. We then examine the design an

Abstract Supported metal nanoparticles are the most widely investigated heterogeneous catalysts in catalysis community. The size of metal nanostructures is an important parameter in influencing the activity of constructed catalysts. Especially, as coordination unsaturated metal atoms always work as the catalytically active centers, decreasing the particle size of the catalyst can greatly boost the specific activity per metal atom. Single‐atom catalysts (SACs), containing single metal atoms ancho

Green degradation: Organic contaminants such as volatile organic compounds and dyes (e.g. acetaldehyde and methylene blue (MB)) can be photocatalytically degraded over a novel CaBi2O4 catalyst. The reaction is environmentally friendly (O2 oxidant) and proceeds at room temperature under visible-light irradiation of wide-ranging wavelength (see picture: x=conversion of CH3CHO into CO2, A=absorbance).

Modular optimization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) was realized by incorporation of coordinatively unsaturated single atoms in a MOF matrix. The newly developed MOF can selectively capture and photoreduce CO₂ with high efficiency under visible-light irradiation. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the presence of single Co atoms in the MOF can greatly boost the electron-hole separation efficiency in porphyrin units. Directional migration of photogenerated excitons from porphyr

Graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) has recently emerged as an attractive photocatalyst for solar energy conversion. However, the photocatalytic activities of g‐C 3 N 4 remain moderate because of the insufficient solar‐light absorption and the fast electron–hole recombination. Here, defect‐modified g‐C 3 N 4 (DCN) photocatalysts, which are easily prepared under mild conditions and show much extended light absorption with band gaps decreased from 2.75 to 2.00 eV, are reported. More importantly,

Solar-driven reduction of dinitrogen (N₂ ) to ammonia (NH₃ ) is severely hampered by the kinetically complex and energetically challenging multielectron reaction. Oxygen vacancies (OVs) with abundant localized electrons on the surface of bismuth oxybromide-based semiconductors are demonstrated to have the ability to capture and activate N₂ , providing an alternative pathway to overcome such limitations. However, bismuth oxybromide materials are susceptible to pho

Through a facile and effective strategy by employing lithium molten salts the controlled synthesis of 2H- and 1T-MoS2 monolayers with high-yield production is achieved. Both phases of MoS2 monolayers exhibit high stabilities. When used as a catalyst for hydrogen evolution, these phased MoS2 monolayers deliver respective advantages in the field of electro- and photo-catalytic hydrogen evolution. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the

Nanometal materials play very important roles in solar-to-chemical energy conversion due to their unique catalytic and optical characteristics. They have found wide applications from semiconductor photocatalysis to rapidly growing surface plasmon-mediated heterogeneous catalysis. The recent research achievements of nanometals are reviewed here, with regard to applications in semiconductor photocatalysis, plasmonic photocatalysis, and plasmonic photo-thermocatalysis. As the first important topic

We report a facile one-step chemical method to synthesize partially reduced TiO2 nanotube arrays (NTAs). The NaBH4 treatment introduces oxygen vacancies on the surface and interior of TiO2. Oxygen vacancy extends the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 NTAs from the UV to visible light region, and enhances the electrical conductivity as well as charge transportation. Surface oxygen vacancies serve as charge carrier traps as well as adsorption sites where the charge transfer to adsorbed species inhib

Abstract In this work, hierarchical WO 3 hollow shells: dendrites, spheres and dumbbells have been successfully synthesized by simply calcining the acid‐treated PbWO 4 and SrWO 4 as precursors at 500 °C for 2 h. These hollow structures were characterized using X‐ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, Brunauer–Emmet–Teller surface area and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. Possible formation mechanisms for hollow WO 3 shells consisted of tiny nanoplatelets

Open vacancies: A facile one-pot synthesis of oxygen-vacancy-rich ultrathin W18O49 nanowires up to several micrometers long is described. In addition to unique optical properties, such as NIR absorption and blue-light emission, the nanowires show an unexpected ability to photochemically reduce carbon dioxide to methane (see picture) as a result of its defect structure caused by large quantities of oxygen vacancies.

Herein, we have developed a facile and general method for the high-yield fabrication of AgX/Ag(3)PO(4) (X = Cl, Br, I) core-shell heterostructures with an unusual rhombic dodecahedral morphology, which exhibit much higher photocatalytic activities, structural stabilities and photoelectric properties than pure Ag(3)PO(4) crystals in environment and energy applications.

Enormous efforts have been devoted to the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) by utilizing various driving forces, such as heat, electricity, and radiation. However, the efficient reduction of CO₂ is still challenging because of sluggish kinetics. Recent pioneering studies from several groups, including us, have demonstrated that the coupling of solar energy and thermal energy offers a novel and promising strategy to promote the activity and/or manipulate selectivity in CO<s

The photothermal conversion of CO2 provides a straightforward and effective method for the highly efficient production of solar fuels with high solar-light utilization efficiency. This is due to several crucial features of the Group VIII nanocatalysts, including effective energy utilization over the whole range of the solar spectrum, excellent photothermal performance, and unique activation abilities. Photothermal CO2 reaction rates (mol h(-1) g(-1)) that are several orders of magnitude larger t

Well-defined m-BiVO(4) nanoplates with exposed {001} facets have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route, without the use of any template or organic surfactant. The as-prepared m-BiVO(4) nanoplates exhibit greatly enhanced activity in the visible-light photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants and photocatalytic oxidation of water for O(2) generation.