The arguments for converting sunlight and H₂O to H₂ to provide cleaner fuels and chemicals are very powerful. However, there is still no efficient means of direct solar energy conversion to H₂ on a large scale despite a large research effort worldwide. This review describes strategies to develop robust devices which exploit the selectivity of a molecular catalyst but avoids the use of sacrificial electron donors by adsorbing them onto an electrode surface. By assembling the photocathodes with photoanodes, the electrons provided by water oxidation are used to reduce H⁺ to H₂. By separating the functions of light absorption, charge transport and catalysis between the colloidal semiconductor and molecular components, the activity of each can be optimised. However, the complexity of the system requires advanced experimental techniques to evaluate the performance. Current understanding of the factors governing electron transfer across the interface between the semiconductor, dye and catalyst is described and future directions and challenges for this field are outlined.

中文翻译：

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染料敏化的光电阴极，用于H _2的演化

将阳光和H ₂ O转化为H ₂以提供更清洁的燃料和化学物质的论点非常有力。然而，尽管全世界进行了大量的研究，但仍没有有效的方法将太阳能直接大规模地转化为H ₂。该综述描述了开发利用分子催化剂的选择性但通过将牺牲电子给体吸附到电极表面上而避免使用牺牲电子给体的耐用设备的策略。通过将光阴极与光阳极组装在一起，水氧化提供的电子被用于将H ⁺还原为H _2。。通过分离胶体半导体和分子成分之间的光吸收，电荷传输和催化功能，可以优化每种物质的活性。但是，系统的复杂性要求先进的实验技术来评估性能。描述了目前对控制电子跨半导体，染料和催化剂之间的界面转移的因素的理解，并概述了该领域的未来方向和挑战。