Photovoltaic (PV) technologies for solar energy conversion represent promising routes to green and renewable energy generation. Despite relevant PV technologies being available for more than half a century, the production of solar energy remains costly, largely owing to low power conversion efficiencies of solar cells. The main difficulty in improving the efficiency of PV energy conversion lies in the spectral mismatch between the energy distribution of photons in the incident solar spectrum and the bandgap of a semiconductor material. In recent years, luminescent materials, which are capable of converting a broad spectrum of light into photons of a particular wavelength, have been synthesized and used to minimize the losses in the solar-cell-based energy conversion process. In this review, we will survey recent progress in the development of spectral converters, with a particular emphasis on lanthanide-based upconversion, quantum-cutting and down-shifting materials, for PV applications. In addition, we will also present technical challenges that arise in developing cost-effective high-performance solar cells based on these luminescent materials.

Enhancing solar cell efficiency: the search for luminescent materials as spectral converters

BiOCl single-crystalline nanosheets with exposed {001} and {010} facets were selectively synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route. The resulting BiOCl single-crystalline nanosheets with exposed {001} facets exhibited higher activity for direct semiconductor photoexcitation pollutant degradation under UV light, but the counterpart with exposed {010} facets possessed superior activity for indirect dye photosensitization degradation under visible light.

Synthesis and Facet-Dependent Photoreactivity of BiOCl Single-Crystalline Nanosheets

Heterogeneous photocatalysis that employs photo-excited semiconductor materials to reduce water and oxidize toxic pollutants upon solar light irradiation holds great prospects for renewable energy substitutes and environmental protection. To utilize solar light effectively, the quest for highly active photocatalysts working under visible light has always been the research focus. Layered BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) are a kind of newly exploited efficient photocatalysts, and their light response can be tuned from UV to visible light range. The properties of semiconductors are dependent on their morphologies and compositions as well as structures, and this also offers the guidelines for design of highly-efficient photocatalysts. In this review, recent advances and emerging strategies in tailoring BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) nanostructures to boost their photocatalytic properties are surveyed.

Engineering BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) nanostructures for highly efficient photocatalytic applications

Core–shell nanoparticles (CSNs) are a class of nanostructured materials that have recently received increased attention owing to their interesting properties and broad range of applications in catalysis, biology, materials chemistry and sensors. By rationally tuning the cores as well as the shells of such materials, a range of core–shell nanoparticles can be produced with tailorable properties that can play important roles in various catalytic processes and offer sustainable solutions to current energy problems. Various synthetic methods for preparing different classes of CSNs, including the Stober method, solvothermal method, one-pot synthetic method involving surfactants, etc., are briefly mentioned here. The roles of various classes of CSNs are exemplified for both catalytic and electrocatalytic applications, including oxidation, reduction, coupling reactions, etc.

Core–shell nanoparticles: synthesis and applications in catalysis and electrocatalysis

In recent years, layered bismuth oxyhalide nanomaterials have received more and more interest as promising photocatalysts because their unique layered structures endow them with fascinating physicochemical properties; thus, they have great potential photocatalytic applications for environment remediation and energy harvesting. In this article, we explore the synthesis strategies and growth mechanisms of layered bismuth oxyhalide nanomaterials, and propose design principles of tailoring a layered configuration to control the nanoarchitectures for high efficient photocatalysis. Subsequently, we focus on their layered structure dependent properties, including pH-related crystal facet exposure and phase transformation, facet-dependent photoactivity and molecular oxygen activation pathways, so as to clarify the origin of the layered structure dependent photoreactivity. Furthermore, we summarize various strategies for modulating the composition and arrangement of layered structures to enhance the photoactivity of nanostructured bismuth oxyhalides via internal electric field tuning, dehalogenation effect, surface functionalization, doping, plasmon modification, and heterojunction construction, which may offer efficient guidance for the design and construction of high-performance bismuth oxyhalide-based photocatalysis systems. Finally, we highlight some crucial issues in engineering the layered-structure mediated properties of bismuth oxyhalide photocatalysts and provide tentative suggestions for future research on increasing their photocatalytic performance.

Bismuth oxyhalide nanomaterials: layered structures meet photocatalysis

Iodine-incorporated BiOCl (I–BiOCl) core–shell microspheres were for the first time fabricated using a one-step approach under atmospheric pressure. The morphology and compositional characteristics of the 3D hierarchitectures (HAs) of BiOCl were investigated by various techniques such as XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDS, XPS and PL. On the basis of observing the structure of BiOCl and iodine-containing BiOCl at different intervals of reaction time, a three-stage growth mechanism that involves an initial Ostwald ripening process followed by a self-assembly process is proposed. Meanwhile, iodine anions were utilized as both structure-directing agents for fabricating hollow, core–shell, solid structure and doped ions incorporated into the framework of the core–shell BiOCl spheres to extend the light adsorption edge to the visible light region. UV-vis spectra reveal that the band energies of the iodine anions-modified BiOCl (I–BiOCl) hierarchical hollow, core–shell, and solid samples (2.43 eV, 2.28 eV and 2.04 eV, respectively) exhibit obvious red-shifts with respect to that of the pure hollow BiOCl sample (3.23 eV). I–BiOCl without adding poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) was researched. This result demonstrated that the formation of the core–shell structure is induced by a synergetic effect by iodine and PVP. The specific surface area and porosity of the iodine anions-modified hierarchical BiOCl were also investigated by using nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms. The as-prepared I–BiOCl core–shell microspheres showed much higher photocatalytic activity than that of the reported TiO2−x−yNxFy(SC)-3 and Bi2WO6, which was evaluated by the degradation of phenol under visible light (λ > 420 nm) and Rhodamine-B (RhB) dye under visible light (λ > 420 nm) and sun-light irradiation.

A novel nanoreactor framework of iodine-incorporated BiOCl core–shell structure: enhanced light-harvesting system for photocatalysis

Monodisperse ZnSn(OH)6 (ZHS) microcrystallites (MCs) with two morphologies have been prepared through a facile preparation method without complicated steps, or advanced experimental conditions or equipments. The morphology and compositional characteristics of the 3D hierarchitectures (HAs) of ZHS MCs were investigated by various techniques such as XRD, FESEM, TEM, UV-vis spectra, BET, XPS and EPR. In the reaction system the morphology evolution from cube to sphere was controlled by adding a different concentration of NH4OH. Meanwhile, the formation mechanisms of the two ZHS MCs were studied via a series of time-dependent experiments. Interesting, ZHS MCs were self-assembled from irregular-shaped nanoparticles (5–10 nm). The XPS and EPR tests demonstrated oxygen vacancy defects existed in the ZHS MCs. The gas sensors based on ZHS presented a good sensor performance towards HCHO. However, the gas sensors based on of ZHS spherical MCs exhibited a higher response, shorter recovery time and good reproducibility towards HCHO than those of ZHS cubic MCs. More importantly, the best gas sensing properties were found coming from the ∼600 nm spherical ZHS MCs owing to more oxygen vacancy defects, lower band gap energy, and larger active surface area.

Shape-controlled synthesis of ZnSn(OH)6 crystallites and their HCHO-sensing properties

The reaction of aluminum with pure water is an eco-friendly approach to generate hydrogen. The main difficulty associated with this approach is that an oxide or hydroxide protective film around aluminum particles prohibit the hydrogen generation. In this article, a kind of highly activated Al–Ce composite material has been developed via a convenient ball milling method. Typically, Al–13 wt% Ce has a total hydrogen production of 1134 mL/g and a conversion yield of 92.42% within 60 min. The influences of the cerium concentration and ball milling time on the hydrogen production efficiency are discussed based on XPS, XRD, FESEM, and BET techniques. In addition, the hydrogen production efficiency can be improved by adding alkali chloride (NaCl or KCl) to the Al–Ce composite materials.

Hydrogen Generation from Highly Activated Al–Ce Composite Materials in Pure Water

Interfacial Heterostructure Phenomena of Highly Luminescent ZnS ∕ ZnO Quantum Dots

We demonstrate a facile approach for the architecture of a multifunctional bilayer thin films which show both antireflection and near-infrared (NIR) luminescence. NIR luminescence YVO4:Yb3+ transparent film and nanoporous SiO2 film were successively built on slide glass. Intense NIR emission around 900–1100 nm has been obtained, which is assigned to the electronic transition 2F7/2→2F5/2 of Yb3+, meanwhile, the maximum transmittance reached as high as ∼95%, whereas that of the glass substrate is ∼91%. It is the sought candidate material for c-Si solar cell by downconversion of UV light to NIR photons and increasing photon transmission.

Near-infrared luminescent and antireflective in SiO2/YVO4:Yb3+ bilayer films for c-Si solar cells

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