Photocatalysis in energy application: What’s next?

Developing, implementing, and deploying renewable energy production strategies on a scale equivalent to or exceeding the current energy supply is the most significant scientific and technological challenge of our time. Through the use of photocatalysis, solar energy can be captured and stored in chemical bonds, resulting in the creation of sustainable fuels such as hydrogen, syngas, methane, methanol, or other hydrocarbons from water and carbon dioxide. What's next for photocatalysis in energy applications? We are pleased to bring you this special issue highlighting the emerging strategies and techniques in photocatalysis research, which enable rapid advancements in the development of novel materials and devices, allowing for efficient and scalable solar fuel production. These advances empower us to envision the real-world impact of these innovations on future energy applications. We hope to provide new and meaningful insights into the way in which photocatalysis contributes to the production of solar fuel, and perhaps this will even offer hints of themes yet to emerge.