Research progress of microsphere photocatalysts in environment purification and energy conversion

Photocatalysis has promising applications in the aspects of degrading various pollutants and converting light energy into chemical energy. However, the majority of photocatalysts are hard to be practical because of the physico-chemical properties' drawbacks. Microsphere photocatalysts has prominent advantages of low density, efficient light harvesting capability and carrier separation, excellent electronic and optical properties, as well as high surface area, easy recovery, good delivering ability, and surface permeability, leading to remarkably improved photocatalytic performances to attract considerable attention. This review focused on introducing and discussing the fabrication of some typical microsphere photocatalysts (TiO₂, ZnO, Bi₂WO₆, PbWO₄, BiFeO₃, BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I and so on) and their application progress in the environment purification and energy conversion, and prospects of the future development of microsphere photocatalysts.