Recent Advances in H2 Production by Photocatalytic Water Splitting

Photocatalytic hydrogen production is an alternative way to reduce our reliance on conventional fuels and therefore protect the environment. However, this process faces challenges such as lower efficiency due to the rapid combination of charge carriers, partial light absorption capacity, and reduced photo-redox capability of the photocatalysts. Most researchers use expensive sacrificial reagents to enhance the generation of hydrogen production. Sacrificial reagents serve as electron donors in the photocatalysis process, resulting in higher production of hydrogen gas. To address these drawbacks, research is focused on developing efficient photocatalysts through various methods, such as heterostructures and cocatalyst-modified photocatalysts. These advanced photocatalysts can generate hydrogen and oxygen simultaneously without any assistance of sacrificial reagents. This chapter emphasizes the thermodynamics of photocatalytic water splitting, materials used in synthesizing photocatalysts, strategies to accomplish overall water splitting (OWS), and summarizes factors that influence the photocatalytic performance in OWS. These findings are valuable in advancing the discovery of effective photocatalysts for OWS without sacrificial reagents.