Recent advances in hybrid photocatalysts for efficient solar photocatalytic hydrogen production

Solar-driven photocatalytic energy generation presents a promising technology for hydrogen production, developing sustainable energy resources, and achieving carbon neutrality. This review provides fundamentals, the latest progress, and key persuasive aspects of hybrid photocatalysts, including their selection through multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) considering optical, technical, and economic factors. In addition, the recent advancements in hybrid photocatalysts, with detailed insights into their development, and rational strategies are presented to evaluate their potential for efficient hydrogen evolution. Furthermore, the impact of operational parameters and emerging applications are also comprehensively discussed. The meticulous literature review revealed that the hybrid photocatalysts exhibit enhanced optical absorption, rapid charge mobility, and reduced recombination with remarkable enhancements in the apparent quantum efficiencies. Meanwhile, the findings affirmed that the optimization of multiple operating conditions including temperature, photocatalyst dosage, agitation rate, and pH value, can further boost the photocatalytic H2 activities. Finally, future directions along with the challenges and possible solutions to develop more advanced and efficient hybrid photocatalyst materials are also summarized. Thus, this review leads to helpful insights for the future design and development of novel hybrid photocatalysts and optimization of photocatalytic systems that can revolutionize this field.