Rational Design and Mechanistic Insights of Chalcogenide Functional Photoelectrocatalytic Materials

Submission Deadline: 01 April 2027 View: 50 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editor(s)

Dr. Tang Xu

Email: tangxu@ujs.edu.cn

Affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China

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Research Interests: design, preparation, development, and application of fluorescent composite sensing materials and functional nanocomposite materials

Summary

While the fundamental principles of photoelectrocatalysis are well-established, translating chalcogenide-based materials (sulfides, selenides, and tellurides) from laboratory to practical scale remains a major challenge. In CO2 reduction, the selectivity for valuable C2 products such as ethylene and ethanol is low due to the high energy barrier for C–C coupling. Pollutant degradation is hindered by photocorrosion and insufficient operational stability. Hydrogen production suffers from rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers and sluggish charge transport. Furthermore, scalable integration with renewable energy sources remains a common obstacle across all three applications.

This Special Issue aims to address these bottlenecks. We welcome contributions on novel catalyst design (defect engineering, heterojunction construction, cocatalyst loading), in-depth mechanistic investigations, advanced reactor engineering, and techno‑economic analyses. Particular emphasis will be placed on studies that elucidate the interplay between material properties and catalytic performance, as well as strategies to enhance durability and scalability. The collective insights gathered in this issue will help chart a clear pathway toward sustainable and practically viable chalcogenide photocatalysis for energy conversion and environmental remediation.

Therefore, this special issue focuses on chalcogenide functional photoelectrocatalytic materials. The following subtopics are the particular interests of this special issue, including but not limited to:
1. Photocatalytic CO2 reduction
2. Electrocatalytic hydrogen production
3. Heterojunction materials
4. Pollutant removal
5. Biomass conversion

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