Research progress in vanadium oxide for photocatalytic hydrogen production and optimization strategies for hydrogen production performance

Hydrogen energy is known as the “ultimate energy of the 21st century”， and the production of hydrogen is also one of the focuses of attention in the 21st century. Semiconductor photocatalysts offer a promising approach to producing hydrogen under visible light. Vanadium oxide has the characteristics of multiple oxidation states， multiple coordination numbers， high stability， and a narrow band gap， so it has a wide application prospect in the field of photocatalytic hydrogen production. However， vanadium oxide has defects， including a small specific surface area， insufficient visible light absorption， and rapid photogenerated carrier recombination， resulting in low photocatalytic performance. Therefore， it is crucial to optimize the photocatalytic performance of vanadium oxide to improve the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production. In this paper， the application of vanadium oxide in photocatalytic hydrogen production at home and abroad in recent years is reviewed， and the optimization strategy to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of vanadium oxide is discussed and analyzed. That is， the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity is improved by surface modification， element doping， and heterojunction construction to increase the specific surface area， enhance light absorption， and inhibit the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers. The hydrogen production performance of vanadium-based photocatalysts prepared by different optimization strategies will be improved continuously in the future. Industrial production is expected to be achieved， which can efficiently convert solar energy into hydrogen energy and replace fossil fuels.