Materials Advances in Photocatalytic Solar Hydrogen Production: Integrating Systems and Economics for a Sustainable Future

Photocatalytic solar hydrogen generation, encompassing both overall water splitting and organic reforming, presents a promising avenue for green hydrogen production. This technology holds the potential for reduced capital costs in comparison to competing methods like photovoltaic-electrocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, owing to its simplicity and fewer auxiliary components. However, the current solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of photocatalytic solar hydrogen production has predominantly remained low at ≈1-2% or lower, mainly due to curtailed access to the entire solar spectrum, thus impeding practical application of photocatalytic solar hydrogen production. This review offers an integrated, multidisciplinary…