Fundamentals of photocatalysis in green H۲ generation

Nowadays, many efforts have been made to investigate catalytic and photocatalytic approaches to develop sustainable and economical processes for H۲ production. The utilization of nanomaterial architecture can be a rational solution for sustainable and efficient H۲ production in all these H۲ production approaches. Nanoarchitechture of materials can be obtained either by top-down or bottom-up synthesis approaches, such as templated materials synthesis. Chemically, Layered materials for H۲ production can be nitrides, oxides, sulfides, carbides, and carbon-based. A fraction of these nanomaterials is naturally abundant, while others can be developed from abundant nanomaterials and precursors. In theory and sometimes in the experimental analysis, Nanostructures should possess a high surface area. However, they are usually unfavorably less active or inactive in the natural form. For example, in the case of layered materials, their interlayer nanospace and surfaces are inaccessible to catalytic reactions. As a result, these layered nanomaterials require additional post-modifications (e.g., exfoliation or functionalization) to invoke their great physio-chemical potentials in the photocatalytic/electrocatalytic/catalytic H۲ production. Therefore, breakthroughs in competitive catalytic H۲ production mandates developing new layered nanomaterials and frameworks that supersede traditional layered nanomaterials’ boundaries.