Titanium Dioxide Microsphere-Derived Materials for Solar Fuel Hydrogen Generation

Hydrogen fuel is an excellent energy carrier for the development of a low carbon emission economy that has the potential to solve the energy and environmental problems in the future. Photocatalytic H 2 generation has received significant growth over the past few decades. Due to their unique properties, TiO 2 microspheres have attracted much attention to be utilized in the photocatalytic H 2 generation from water splitting. These microspheres-derived photocatalysts are known to offer the advantages of large surface area, tunable pore sizes, better allowing light absorption, efficient carrier separation, excellent electronic and optical properties, and high durability. Over the past few decades, significant research efforts have been allocated to the design of TiO 2 microspheres with desired functionality for efficient H 2 generation. This perspective will concentrate on recent advances in the synthesis of TiO 2 microsphere-derived photocatalysts and their applications for efficient solar fuel H 2 evolution from water splitting. Advanced strategies for the fabrication of TiO 2 microsphere-based materials have been critically reviewed. The up-to-date developments of technologies applied to TiO 2 microsphere-based materials for photocatalytic H 2 evolution are compared and commented. Current challenges and future perspectives for solar fuel H 2 generation will be also highlighted and discussed.