Nanomaterials design for photoelectrochemical water oxidation

The growing global energy demand and related environmental issues have stimulated the development and utilization of renewable and eco-friendly energy sources, particularly hydrogen or carbon-based solar fuels produced through photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Although solar fuels are generally produced through reduction reactions on the (photo-)cathode, water oxidation that occurs on the semiconductor photoanode plays a fundamental role in PEC cells. The rapid development of nanomaterials has opened up new avenues and provided an opportunity to improve efficiency and stability of semiconductor photoanodes. In this article, we focus on some of the most effective and generally-applicable nanomaterials design strategies for improving PEC water oxidation performance. These nanomaterials design strategies include morphology control, band structure engineering, and surface modification, which are summarized from literatures reporting the best-performing photoanodes and breakthroughs in concepts and theories. It is expected that the rational design of nanomaterials could provide guidelines for the future development of high-performance photoanodes.