The current efficiency of various photocatalytic processes is limited by the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in the photocatalyst as well as the back-reaction of intermediate species. This review concentrates on the use of ferroelectric polarization to mitigate electron–hole recombination and back-reactions and therefore improve photochemical reactivity. Ferroelectric materials are considered as wide band gap polarizable semiconductors. Depending on the surface polarization, different regions of the surface experience different extents of band bending and promote different carriers to move to spatially different locations. This can lead to some interesting interactions at the surface such as spatially selective adsorption and surface redox reactions. This introductory review covers the fundamental properties of ferroelectric materials, effect of an internal electric field/polarization on charge carrier separation, effect of the polarization on the surface photochemistry and reviews the work done on the use of these ferroelectric materials for photocatalytic applications such as dye degradation and water splitting. The manipulation of photogenerated charge carriers through an internal electric field/surface polarization is a promising strategy for the design of improved photocatalysts.

各种光催化过程的当前效率受到光催化剂中光生电子-空穴对的重组以及中间物种的反向反应的限制。这篇综述集中在铁电极化的使用上，以减轻电子-空穴复合和后反应，从而提高光化学反应性。铁电材料被认为是宽带隙可极化的半导体。取决于表面极化，表面的不同区域会经历不同程度的带弯曲并促使不同的载流子移动到空间上不同的位置。这可能导致表面发生一些有趣的相互作用，例如空间选择性吸附和表面氧化还原反应。本介绍性综述涵盖了铁电材料的基本特性，内部电场/极化对电荷载流子分离的影响，极化对表面光化学的影响，并回顾了将这些铁电材料用于光催化应用（例如染料）的工作降解和水分解。通过内部电场/表面极化对光生电荷载流子的操纵是设计改进的光催化剂的一种有前途的策略。