This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Novel Photoactive Materials that was published in Materials

Photoactivity represents the ability of a material, generally speaking a semiconductor, to become active when interacting with light. It can be declined in many ways, and several functionalities arising from this behavior of materials can be exploited, all leading to positive repercussions on our environment. There are several classes of effects of photoactivity, all of which have been deeply investigated in the last few decades, allowing to develop more and more efficient materials and devices. All of them share a common point, that is, the interaction of a material with light, although many different materials are taken into account depending on the effect desired--from elemental semiconductors like silicon, to more complex compounds like CdTe or GaAs, to metal oxides like TiO2 and ZnO. Given the broadness of the field, a huge number of works fall within this topic, and new areas of discovery are constantly explored. The special issue "Novel Photoactive Materials" has been proposed as a means to present recent developments in the field, and for this reason the articles included touch different aspects of photoactivity, from photocatalysis to photovoltaics to light emitting materials.

This book presents a collection of 13 original research articles that focus on the science of light-matter interaction. This area of science has been led to some the greatest accomplishments of the past 100 years, with the discovery of materials that perform useful operations by collecting light or generating light from an outside stimulus. These materials are at the center of a multitude of technologies that have permeated our daily life; every day we rely on quantum well lasers for telecommunication, organic light emitting diodes for our displays, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors for our camera detectors, and of course a plethora of new photovoltaic cells that harvest sunlight to satisfy our energy needs. In this book, top-rated researchers present their latest findings in the field of nano-particles, plasmonics, semi-conductors, magneto-optics, and holography.

Photocatalysis is considered significant in this new energy era, because the inexhaustibly abundant, clean, and safe energy of the sun can be harnessed for sustainable, nonhazardous, and economically development of our society. In the research of photocatalysis, the current focus was held by the design and modification of photocatalyst. As one of the most promising photocatalysts, g-C3N4 has gained considerable attention for its eye-catching properties. It has been extensively explored in photocatalysis applications, such as water splitting, organic pollutant degradation, and CO2 reduction. Even so, it also has its own drawbacks which inhibit its further application. Inspired by that, this thesis will mainly present and discuss the process and achievement on the preparation of some novel photocatalysts and their photocatalysis performance. These materials were all synthesized via the alteration of classic g-C3N4 preparation method, like using different pre-compositions for initial supramolecular complex and functional group...

Chalcogenide-Based Nanomaterials as Photocatalysts deals with the different types of chalcogenide-based photocatalytic reactions, covering the fundamental concepts of photocatalytic reactions involving chalcogenides for a range of energy and environmental applications. Sections focus on nanostructure control, synthesis methods, activity enhancement strategies, environmental applications, and perspectives of chalcogenide-based nanomaterials. The book offers guidelines for designing new chalcogenide-based nanoscale photocatalysts at low cost and high efficiency for efficient utilization of solar energy in the areas of energy production and environment remediation. Provides information on the development of novel chalcogenide-based nanomaterials Outlines the fundamentals of chalcogenides-based photocatalysis Includes techniques for heterogeneous catalysis based on chalcogenide-based nanomaterials