Biomass‐Derived Carbon for Boosting Photocatalysis

ABSTRACT To achieve the practical application of photocatalysis, various carbon materials are testified to trap photoinduced electrons (e ⁻ ) and enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of catalysts. Compared with other carbon materials, biomass‐derived carbon (BDC) with sustainability and affordability is regarded as an appropriate e ⁻ acceptor to fabricate highly active photocatalysts on a large scale. However, biomass materials exhibit significant diversity in their chemical structures and physical properties, which critically determines the morphology, composition, and physicochemical performance of the resulting BDC products. Therefore, a variety of strategies are developed to prepare highly photoactive BDC‐based photocatalysts. This review summarizes a large amount of related works have been reported in the last two decades and divides the synthesis methodology into the bottom‐up and top‐down methods. In particular, the bottom‐up method primarily employs hydrosoluble carbohydrates to synthesize four hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) composites or HTC‐derived photocatalysts. As for the top‐down method, the existing natural biomass precursors are utilized to fabricate three biochar‐based photocatalysts. Consequently, this review comprehensively describes the designing mentality, preparation approach, architectural feature, photocatalytic application, and photocatalytic mechanism of different BDC‐based materials. That will stimulate to design and develop more highly active BDC‐based photocatalysts for the potential practical applications in the future.