Abstract With the rapid development of science and technology, environmental pollution and energy shortage become more and more prominent. To solve these problems, photocatalytic technology is regarded as one of the most efficient methods, allowing for both pollutant degradation and energy conversion. Compared with traditional group II VI, III V quantum dots (QDs), carbon dots (CDs), as a newly emerging kind of fluorescent carbon-based material, possess many excellent properties, such as high aqueous solubility, low cost, low toxicity, abundant surface functional groups and good biocompatibility. In particular, the unique up-converted photoluminescence (PL) behavior and photo-induced electron transfer ability of CDs provide the new route to achieve efficient metal-free photocatalysts. This article reviews recent progress on CDs utilized for photocatalysis from different perspectives, including the following three parts: classification and synthesis, mechanism of CDs-derived photocatalysts as well as the applications for environmental issues (up-converted PL process) and energy conversion (photo-induced electron transfer process).

中文翻译：

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碳点光催化研究进展：分类、机理及应用

摘要 随着科学技术的飞速发展，环境污染和能源短缺问题日益突出。为了解决这些问题，光催化技术被认为是最有效的方法之一，可以同时实现污染物降解和能量转换。与传统的II VI族、III V族量子点（QDs）相比，碳点（CDs）作为一种新兴的荧光碳基材料，具有水溶性高、成本低、毒性低、丰富的表面官能团和良好的生物相容性。特别是，CDs独特的上转换光致发光（PL）行为和光诱导电子转移能力为实现高效的无金属光催化剂提供了新途径。