Review: novel strategies for electric field-assisted high-efficient photocatalysis
摘要
Water pollution exerts profound and far-reaching effects on human health and the global ecosystem, posing a critical challenge to sustainable development. Various methods have been developed to treat wastewater. However, traditional wastewater treatment methods fail to achieve advanced purification for organic pollutants. Therefore, photocatalysis, which represents a clean and sustainable technology with the potential to replace traditional methods, has been developed as a promising approach to treat wastewater. Nevertheless, its photocatalytic efficiency is impeded by the rapid recombination of photoinduced charges, which restricts its overall performance. Therefore, enhancing photocatalytic performance through construction of sustainable electric fields has become a key research focus. Recently, novel electric fields include triboelectric, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric fields, compensate for the drawbacks of traditional electric fields that are rely on electrodes and electrolytes, offering new pathways to improve photocatalytic efficiency. In this review, the interrelations between theoretical principles and photocatalytic activities within the framework of the three electric fields are systematically discussed, encompassing their influence factors, design strategies, and improving approaches. A comprehensive and in-depth analysis of high-efficiency photocatalytic systems enhanced by the electric fields is highlighted, especially nanogenerator (TENG) and contact-electro-catalysis (CEC), concentrating on the design of sustainable energy conversion devices, including structural inventions, material selections, mechanical forces, and other influencing factors. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for enhancing photocatalysis are summarized, which provide valuable theoretical supports and experimental guidance for researchers specializing in photocatalysis, triboelectrics, piezoelectrics, pyroelectrics, and relevant fields.