A new breakthrough in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts

The development of renewable hydrogen production methods is crucial to recognizing the hydrogen economy that may solve global environmental and energy concerns. Photocatalytic water splitting is an ideal technology for converting solar energy into hydrogen energy that is environmentally friendly and economical. In order to achieve highly efficient and cost-effective photocatalytic hydrogen production, it is crucial to research and develop high-performance, earth-abundant cocatalysts. Recent studies have shown that amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts are promising candidates to replace noble metal-based cocatalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). An overview of recent advances in photocatalytic HER with amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts is presented in this review. Specifically, this review sheds light on the needs of amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts, followed by the functions, intrinsic mechanism of charge transfer, various factors influencing their activities, and design principles of the amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts are discussed. Furthermore, various types of amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts are discussed in detail, ranging from crystalline to amorphous to amorphous and chalcogenide enriched phase, including their various synthetic strategies, lowering overpotential, providing active sites, mechanisms, strengthening photostability, enhancing photoexcited charge transfer in photocatalytic HER, and their advantages and disadvantages. In addition to this, some emerging characterization techniques are also discussed which are helpful in examining the amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts' induced charge behavior. In the end, we provide a comprehensive conclusion and future prospective for research development that identifies the major challenges and suggests opportunities to overcome this global issue. Amorphous and chalcogenide enriched cocatalysts are a rising star in photocatalytic HER.