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Progress in organic photocatalysts

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Abstract

Organic materials have advantages of diversity, ease of functionality, self-assembly, etc. The varied mechanistic pathways also make it conceivable to design an appropriate photocatalyst for an identical reaction. From this perspective, organic photocatalysts find wide applications in homogeneous, heterogeneous photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar cells. In this review, the form of the employed organic photocatalysts ranging from molecules, supported molecules, to nanostructures or thin-film aggregates will be firstly discussed. Rational design strategies relating to each form are also provided, aiming to enhance the photoenergy conversion efficiency. Finally, the ongoing directions for future improvement of organic materials in high-quality optoelectronic devices are also proposed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51503014 and 51501008) and the State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials (No. 2016Z-03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Ying-Zhi Chen, Wen-Hao Li, Ling Li & Lu-Ning Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Lu-Ning Wang

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  1. Ying-Zhi Chen
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  2. Wen-Hao Li
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  3. Ling Li
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  4. Lu-Ning Wang
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Correspondence to Lu-Ning Wang.

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Chen, YZ., Li, WH., Li, L. et al. Progress in organic photocatalysts. Rare Met. 37, 1–12 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-017-0953-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-017-0953-2

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