Interface engineering of heterojunction photocatalysts based on 1D nanomaterials

Abstract

Semiconductor photocatalysis is considered a promising approach to solve the current energy shortage and environmental pollution problems. Due to their unique structures and outstanding physicochemical properties, one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials have attracted great attention in the field of photocatalysis. However, they still suffer from many obstacles, such as rapid recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and low apparent quantum efficiency, which result in unsatisfactory photocatalytic performance in practical applications. To overcome these challenges, photocatalytic heterojunctions have been constructed using 1D nanomaterials as basic building blocks and demonstrated unique and improved properties. In this review, we systematically summarize several different types of 1D nanomaterial-based heterojunctions based on the transfer mechanisms of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, including type II heterojunction, p–n type heterojunction, Schottky junction, Z-type heterojunction, and S-scheme heterojunction. At the end, some challenges and future directions of 1D nanomaterial-based photocatalytic heterojunctions for practical applications are discussed.