Titanium Dioxide Microsphere-Derived Materials for Solar Fuel Hydrogen Generation

摘要

Hydrogen fuel is an excellent energy carrier for the development of a low carbon emission economy that has the potential to solve the energy and environmental problems in the future. Photocatalytic H2 generation has received significant growth over the past few decades. Due to their unique properties, TiO2 microspheres have attracted much attention to be utilized in the photocatalytic H2 generation from water splitting. These microspheres-derived photocatalysts are known to offer the advantages of large surface area, tunable pore sizes, better allowing light absorption, efficient carrier separation, excellent electronic and optical properties, and high durability. Over the past few decades, significant research efforts have been allocated to the design of TiO2 microspheres with desired functionality for efficient H2 generation. This perspective will concentrate on recent advances in the synthesis of TiO2 microsphere-derived photocatalysts and their applications for efficient solar fuel H2 evolution from water splitting. Advanced strategies for the fabrication of TiO2 microsphere-based materials have been critically reviewed. The up-todate developments of technologies applied to TiO2 microsphere-based materials for photocatalytic H2 evolution are compared and commented. Current challenges and future perspectives for solar fuel H2 generation will be also highlighted and discussed.