An updated review of few-layer black phosphorus serving as a promising photocatalyst: synthesis, modification and applications

Abstract

Semiconductor photocatalysts represent a potential strategy to simultaneously solve the global energy shortage and environmental pollution, and black phosphorus (BP) has gained widespread applications in photocatalysis due to its high hole mobility, strong light trapping capabilities, and adjustable band gap. Nevertheless, the original material exhibits unsatisfactory photocatalytic activity in terms of low carrier separation efficiency, weak environmental stability, and difficult to control layer thickness. The following review briefly presents the fundamental characteristics and extensively discusses the synthesis methods and modification strategies for few-layer black phosphorus (FL-BP). Furthermore, various applications of composite photocatalysts derived from FL-BP such as water splitting, pollutant degradation, the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR), phototherapy, bacterial disinfection, N₂ fixation, and hydrogenation reactions are reviewed. Finally, the opportunities and challenges for the development and further investigation of advanced FL-BP-based photocatalysts are also presented.