Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2025, Vol. 72: 24-47.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60257-3

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Solar-driven H2O2 production by S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst

Han Lia, Wang Wangb,c, Kaiqiang Xud, Bei Chengb,c, Jingsan Xue, Shaowen Caob,c,*()   

  1. aSchool of Automotive Materials, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan 442020, Hubei, China
    bState Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China
    cHubei Technology Innovation Center for Advanced Composites, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China
    dSchool of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China
    eSchool of Chemistry and Physics & Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
  • Received:2024-11-21 Accepted:2025-01-11 Online:2025-05-18 Published:2025-05-20
  • Contact: *E-mail: swcao@whut.edu.cn (S. Cao).
  • About author:Shaowen Cao (State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology) was appointed as the young member of the Editorial Board of Chinese Journal of Catalysis in 2017. Professor Shaowen Cao received his B.S. in Geochemistry in 2005 from the University of Science and Technology of China, and his Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry & Physics in 2010 from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He then worked as a Research Fellow at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University until Feb. 2014. He is now a Professor at State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology. From Mar 2018 to Feb 2020, he was a Visiting Scientist at Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. His current research interests include the design and fabrication of photocatalytic materials for energy and environmental applications. He is the author or co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers., with over 22000 citations, an H-index 70 and 26 ESI highly cited papers. He is also one of the “Highly Cited Researchers” from 2018 to 2024 awarded by Clarivate Analytics.
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2022YFE0114800);Guangxi Science and Technology Major Program(AA24263054);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52472245);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22278324);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52073223);Doctoral Scientific Research Foundation of Hubei University of Automotive Technology(BK202413)

Abstract:

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), as an essential and green chemical, is extensively used in energy and environmental applications. However, the production of H2O2 primarily relies on the anthraquinone method, which is an energy-intensive method involving multi-step reactions, producing harmful by-product wastes. Solar-driven H2O2 production, an alternative route for H2O2 generation, is a green and sustainable technology since it only utilizes water and oxygen as feedstock. However, the rapid recombination of charge carriers as well as insufficient redox capability limit the photocatalytic H2O2 production performance. Constructing step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction photocatalysts has been regarded as an effective strategy to address these drawbacks because it not only achieves spatially separated charge carriers, but also preserves redox capability of the photocatalytic system. This paper covers the recent advances of S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts for H2O2 production in terms of basic principles, characterization techniques, and preparation strategies. Moreover, the mechanism and advantages of S-scheme heterojunction for photocatalytic H2O2 generation are systematically discussed. The recent S-scheme heterojunction designs, including inorganic-organic heterojunction, inorganic-inorganic heterojunction, and organic-organic heterojunction, are summarized. Lastly, the challenges and research directions of S-scheme photocatalysts for H2O2 generation are presented.

Key words: Step-scheme heterojunction, H2O2 photosynthesis, Charge migration mechanism, Solar conversion