Open AccessInternal electric field engineering for steering photogenerated charge separation and enhancing photoactivity
Author(s) -
Guo Yan,
Shi Wenxin,
Zhu Yongfa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ecomat
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2567-3173
DOI - 10.1002/eom2.12007
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , limiting , electric field , renewable energy , separation (statistics) , charge carrier , materials science , nanotechnology , process engineering , environmental science , computer science , engineering physics , optoelectronics , chemistry , electrical engineering , engineering , mechanical engineering , physics , catalysis , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , machine learning
Photocatalysis as a desirable technology shows great potential in environmental remediation and renewable energy generation, but the recombination of photogenerated carriers is a key limiting factor for efficiency in artificial photosynthesis. Internal electric field (IEF, also known as built‐in electric field) engineering acts an emerging and clearly viable route to increase photocatalytic efficiency by facilitating charge separation and transfer. This review summarizes the basic principles of IEF including the source, the strategies for the enhancement and the measurement of IEF. Highlight is the recent progress in steering photogenerated charge separation of photocatalysts by IEF engineering and related mechanisms. Finally, the challenges in IEF engineering and exciting opportunities to further enhancing charge separation and photocatalytic performance are discussed. Abstract