The conversion of sunlight into fuels and chemicals is an attractive prospect for the storage of renewable energy, and photoelectrocatalytic technologies represent a pathway by which solar fuels might be realized. However, there are numerous scientific challenges in developing these technologies. These include finding suitable materials for the absorption of incident photons, developing more efficient catalysts for both water splitting and the production of fuels, and understanding how interfaces between catalysts, photoabsorbers and electrolytes can be designed to minimize losses and resist degradation. In this Review, we highlight recent milestones in these areas and some key scientific challenges remaining between the current state of the art and a technology that can effectively convert sunlight into fuels and chemicals.

将太阳光转化为燃料和化学药品是存储可再生能源的诱人前景，而光电催化技术代表了实现太阳能的途径。但是，开发这些技术存在许多科学挑战。这些措施包括找到适合吸收入射光子的材料，开发用于水分解和燃料生产的更有效的催化剂，以及了解如何设计催化剂，光吸收剂和电解质之间的界面以最大程度地减少损失和抵抗降解。在本评论中，我们重点介绍了这些领域中的近期里程碑以及当前最先进技术与可以有效地将阳光转化为燃料和化学品的技术之间仍然存在的一些关键科学挑战。