Research advances on quantum dots/TiO₂ composite photocatalytic materials

In recent years, photocatalytic technology has been widely used in sewage treatment, CO₂ reduction, hydrogen production and other fields. Among photocatalytic materials, TiO₂ is widely used due to its advantages of high chemical stability, wide sources and low price. However, wide band gap and high electron and hole compound efficiency greatly limit the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂. Quantum dots (QDs), a kind of nano-scale particles affected by quantum constraint effect, show the advantages of easy carrier regulation and abundant surface sites. Therefore, different methods have been used by researchers to compound TiO₂ with QDs for the enhancement of photocatalytic performance of TiO₂, and then a series of QDs/TiO₂ composite photocatalytic materials with excellent photocatalytic performance are obtained. This review mainly introduces the research progress of QDs/TiO₂ composite photocatalytic materials. Firstly, the preparation methods of QDs/TiO₂ composite photocatalytic materials were described, and the enhancement mechanism of TiO₂ photocatalytic performance by QDs was analyzed. Then, The application of QDs/TiO₂ composite photocatalytic materials in the degradation of organic pollutants, hydrogen production and CO₂ reduction were summarized. Finally, the major issues in the current research of QDs/TiO₂ composite photocatalytic materials and the future research prospects were discussed.