Photocatalytic Materials, Design Concepts, and Functional Mechanistic Pathways

The rapid evolution of technology today intrinsically stimulates demand for effective catalytic solutions in a variety of sectors. From this vantage point, photocatalysts have proved to be highly effective solutions for revolutionizing the energy and materials sectors, bringing environmental, and cost savings across a wide range of sectors. The purpose of this chapter is to survey the development and ongoing research into different photocatalytic materials, their design concepts, specifications, and functionalization, along with their deployment in various engineering end-uses. The design of different types of photocatalysts, including homogeneous and heterogeneous photocatalytic materials, has captured considerable research interest in recent years. They hold the exciting potential of being functionalized by copolymerization, surface alteration, or combining with metals or other compounds to generate efficient photocatalytic systems. These insights pave the way for enhanced performance of catalytic processes and their involvement in relevant applications including energy-related fields, environmental remediation, water splitting, self-cleaning substrates, biomedicine, etc. Moreover, this chapter presents the findings of the relevant involvement of different classes of photocatalysts, their functional mechanistic pathways and their performance in some attractive target areas. The purpose is to establish a consistent interrelation between the structural attributes of photocatalysts, their mechanisms and their activity. Besides, futuristic approaches and scenarios to optimize their valorization are outlined, highlighting the potential for large-scale beneficiation.