Qualitative Approaches Towards Useful Photocatalytic Materials

Abstract

The long-standing crusade searching for efficient photocatalytic materials has resulted in a vast landscape of promising photocatalysts, as reflected by the number of reviews reported in the last decade. Virtually all of these reviews have focused on quantitative approaches aiming at developing an understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind photocatalytic behavior and the parameters that influence structure-function correlation. Less attention has been paid, however, to qualitative measures around the development and assessment of photocatalysts. These measures will contribute toward narrowing the range of potential photocatalytic materials for widespread applications. The current report provides a critical perspective over some of the main factors affecting the assessment of photocatalytic materials as a code of good practice. A case of study is also provided, where this qualitative analysis is applied to one of the most prolific materials of the last-decade, disorder-engineered, black titanium dioxide (TiO₂).

Keywords: black TiO2; dye-sensitized processes; in situ/in operando photocatalysis; limitations in photocatalysis; photocatalytic properties; qualitative pyramid; scalability; visible-light activity.