Insights into carbon dots and conventional semiconductors hybrids: A trendsetter in photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Sustainable conversion and storage of energy will create demand in the future. There is ample research on constructing composites with conventional semiconductor materials to overcome their common challenges, which are currently in progress to empower the water-splitting performance by the photocatalysis process. It is better to modify the existing low-cost semiconductor photocatalyst instead of finding a newer, effective photocatalytic material for hydrogen production. CDs (Carbon dots) are shining stars in material research; because of their unlimited exciting properties, they were engrossed in the photocatalysis area to expand the efficiency and stability of conventional photocatalytic material. Quite a lot of research reports support existing CDs that grandly improve the photocatalytic water-splitting character. Modifying conventional semiconductor-based photocatalysts with CDs to improve the photocatalytic water splitting to generate hydrogen was less reported in the photocatalytic research area. The present summarised research report involves a broad view of the multiple roles of CDs and how it effectively improves the conventional photocatalytic material towards photocatalytic water splitting.