《ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces》: Design Photocatalysts to Boost Carrier Dynamics in Plastics Photoconversion into Fuels

Jinyu Ding,⁺ Dongpo He,⁺ Peijin Du,⁺ Jiacong Wu, Qinyuan Hu, Qingxia Chen^*, Xingchen Jiao^*

Solar-driven plastics conversion into valuable fuels has attracted broad attention in recent years, which has enormous potential for plastics recycling in the future. However, it usually encounters low conversion efficiency, where one of the reasons is attributed to the poor carrier dynamics in the photocatalytic process. In this Perspective, we critically review the developed strategies, involving defect engineering, doping engineering, heterojunction engineering and composite construction, for boosted carrier separation efficiency. In addition, we provide an outlook for more potential strategies to engineer catalysts for promoted carrier dynamics. Finally, we also propose prospects for future research direction of plastics photoconversion into fuels.

Figure 1. Strategies for engineering catalysts to boost the carrier dynamics in solar-driven plastics conversion into fuels.