Abstract
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•The fundamentals of photocatalytic water splitting are clarified.•Recent advances of MOFs photocatalysts for water splitting are introduced.•Special attention has been paid to the modification or decoration strategies of MOFs.•An insight of prospects for the MOF based- and derived- photocatalysts.
Since the global energy demand and consumption increased sharply, photocatalytic water splitting becomes a promising solution to provide continuous and sustainable energy resources. However, exploring photocatalysts that could meet energy needs and put into industrial manufacture remains a challenging task. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as a class of porous crystalline materials with tailorable structure and ultrahigh surface area, are regarded as an ideal candidate for photocatalysis application. Recently, their peculiar employment in photocatalytic water splitting aroused tremendous interests. Although this topic still in early stage, recent advanced experiments results have certified its potential for future application. This review starts with the fundamentals of photocatalytic water splitting, and subsequently summarizes and exemplifies recent developments of MOFs based- and derived-photocatalysts for water splitting, including water-splitting half reaction and overall water splitting. Particularly, two strategies to enhance photocatalytic performance of MOFs are specific emphasized, namely functional modification and surface or pore decoration. Finally, this review identifies the scarcities of MOFs based- and derived-photocatalysts and proposes pertinent suggestions for further improvement, whilst highlights a green future for photocatalytic water splitting.