The present review covers the outline of the application of photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to understand the photocatalytic reactions on the bulk semiconducting materials and highly dispersed metal oxide single-site heterogeneous catalysts at their working states. The first part focuses on the applications of PL spectroscopy to elucidate the surface active sites and surface band structures of the inorganic and organic bulk semiconducting photocatalysts at their working states. The second part describes the applications of in situ PL spectroscopy to elucidate the surface active sites of the highly dispersed metal oxide single-site heterogeneous catalysts and their roles in photocatalytic reactions at the molecular level. The last part is a brief conclusion and future direction of PL studies.

本综述涵盖了光致发光（PL）光谱的应用概述，以了解在其工作状态下对本体半导体材料和高度分散的金属氧化物单中心非均相催化剂的光催化反应。第一部分着重于PL光谱学的应用，以阐明无机和有机本体半导体光催化剂在其工作状态下的表面活性位和表面能带结构。第二部分描述了原位PL光谱技术在分子水平阐明高度分散的金属氧化物单中心非均相催化剂的表面活性位及其在光催化反应中的作用的应用。最后一部分是PL研究的简要结论和未来发展方向。