title: Dual-functional photocatalysis for hydrogen evolution from industrial wastewaters.
abstract: Realization of hydrogen economy requires an environmental and economic method for hydrogen (H2) evolution. Dual-functional photocatalysis, that is, producing H2from industrial wastewaters, may be the most ideal. However, it seems almost impossible to achieve dual-functional photocatalysis because of the difficulty in the simultaneous existence of photocatalytic pollutant degradation (PDR) and H2evolution reactions (HER) in one system. All previous designs show that either HER or PDR is inhibited due to the insufficient management of the photo-generated electrons (e-) and holes (h+). To overcome this issue, we consider that both PDR and HER could be improved simultaneously by employing a suitable photocatalyst whose main active species in PDR are h+. In this case, e-and h+can play their own roles in accomplishing HER and PDR, respectively, via the charge spatial separation in the selected photocatalyst. Herein, Cu2O polyhedrons are constructed as a proof-of-concept example. A favorable dual-functional photocatalytic performance is achieved by the Cu2O cubooctahedrons. Furthermore, an appropriate pollutant concentration is significant for the optimization of both HER and PDR performances due to the competition between H atom adsorption and pollutant molecule adsorption on the surfaces of the photocatalyst. This advance provides the H2evolution technology with a more environmental and economic method.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, P. R. China. stsygw@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhaoyong
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6901-4695
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, P. R. China. stsygw@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, P. R. China. stsygw@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, P. R. China. stsygw@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Weijia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, P. R. China. stsygw@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guowei
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2141-6630
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang