Recent Progress and Challenge in Research of Novel Photocatalytic Materials

Photocatalytic materials present the potential applications for energy conversion and environment purification. To develop the efficient photocatalysts is a key step for promoting the photocatalytic technique into practical applications. The efficient photocatalyst must have the moderate band gap to match the solar irradiation spectrum,the appropriate conduction and valence level to match the redox potential of reactant,the high quantum efficiency and high photoelectrochemical stability.This review article introduces the present research state of novel photocatalytic materials,including a summary on basic mechanism for photocatalysis,the development strategy for visible-light-driven photocatalysts,the novel methods to improve the energy conversion efficiency and the new characteristic tools to know the mechanism of photocatalytic reaction. The key problems for improving the energy conversion efficiency and significance on the development of novel photocatalytic materials are discussed. Finally,the potential research directions in the photocatalysis fields are viewed.