Defect and interface engineering of NH2-UiO-66 for photocatalytic applications

Abstract

NH₂-UiO-66 has been regarded as a highly promising semiconductor for photocatalytic applications because of its structural robustness, visible-light responsiveness, and tunable porosity. However, the pure NH₂-UiO-66 suffers from limitations such as rapid charge recombination and insufficient active sites. This review summarizes recent advances in overcoming these drawbacks by defect and interface engineering for NH₂-UiO-66. Defect engineering, including the introduction of linker deficiencies, metal cluster vacancies, and defect-anchored single atoms, is summarized for its role in modulating electronic structures, narrowing bandgaps, and creating more active sites. Interface engineering is systematically concluded, including the fabrication of composites with metal/non-metal components and the design of Type-II, Z-scheme, and S-scheme heterojunctions, which are crucial for enhancing charge separation efficiency and light absorption. The correlations between these strategic modifications and the significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance are extensively investigated in hydrogen evolution, CO₂ reduction, organic synthesis, and environmental pollutants degradation. Furthermore, the current challenges and future perspectives in the precise control and mechanistic understanding of these engineering strategies are provided, aiming to guide the rational design of high-performance NH₂-UiO-66-based photocatalytic systems for energy conversion and environmental remediation.