Depleting conventional fuel reserves has prompted the demand for the exploration of renewable resources. Biomass is a widely available renewable resource that can be valorized to produce fuels, chemicals, and materials. Among all the fractions of biomass, lignin has been underutilized. Due to its complex structure, recalcitrant nature, and heterogeneity, its valorization is relatively challenging. This review focuses on the utilization of lignin for the preparation of composite materials and their application in the field of photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Lignin can be used as a photocatalyst support for its potential application in photodegradation of contaminants. The interaction between the components in hybrid photocatalysts plays a significant role in determining the photocatalytic performance. The application of lignin as a photocatalyst support tends to control the size of the particles and allows uniform distribution of the particles that influence the characteristics of the photocatalyst. Lignin as a semiconductive polymer dopant for photoanodes in photovoltaic cells can improve the photoconversion efficiency of the cell. Recent success in the development of lignosulfonates dopant for hole transport materials in photovoltaics will pave the way for further research in lignin-based high-performance organic electronic devices.

常规燃料储备的枯竭促使人们对可再生资源的勘探需求。生物质是一种可广泛利用的可再生资源，可以利用其进行增值生产燃料，化学物质和材料。在生物质的所有部分中，木质素的利用不足。由于其复杂的结构，顽强的性质和异质性，其增值相对具有挑战性。这篇综述着重于木质素在制备复合材料中的应用及其在光催化和光伏领域的应用。木质素可以潜在地用于污染物的光降解，因此可以用作光催化剂载体。杂化光催化剂中各组分之间的相互作用在决定光催化性能方面起着重要作用。木质素作为光催化剂载体的应用趋于控制颗粒的尺寸，并允许影响光催化剂特性的颗粒的均匀分布。木质素作为用于光伏电池中的光阳极的半导体聚合物掺杂剂可以提高电池的光转换效率。用于光伏中的空穴传输材料的木质素磺酸盐掺杂剂的最新开发成功将为基于木质素的高性能有机电子器件的进一步研究铺平道路。