等浓度的氯化铵和硫酸铵溶液哪个pH高

有中学化学参考资料题:0.10 mol/L的NH4Cl和(NH4)2SO4溶液哪个pH值高?这似乎是个中学生可做的简单题目,仔细考虑不是如此.如果简单地认为盐酸和硫酸都是强酸,而硫酸是二元酸,硫酸铵溶液中铵盐浓度为0.20 mol/L,那么NH4Cl溶液pH高,那是不妥的.硫酸是二元酸,第一个氢离子能完全电离,第二个氢离子部分电离,如此考虑情况怎么样呢?是不是答案发生变化?这要通过计算来说明.     

Enhanced efficiency and stability in Sn-based perovskite solar cells with secondary crystallization growth

The conversion efficiencies reported for Tin(Sn)halide-based perovskite solar cells(PSCs)fall a large gap behind those of lead halide-based PSCs,mainly because of poor film quality of the former.Here we report an efficient strategy based on a simple secondary crystallization growth(SCG)technique to improve film quality for tin halide-based PSCs by applying a series of functional amine chlorides on the perovskite surface.They were discovered to enhance the film crystallinity and suppress the oxidation of Sn²⁺remarkably,hence reduce trap state density and non-irradiative recombination in the absorber films.Furthermore,the SCG film holds the band levels matching better with carrier transport layers and herein favoring charge extraction at the device interfaces.Consequently,a champion device efficiency of 8.07% was achieved alo ng with significant enhancements in VOC and JSC,in contrast to 5.35% of the control device value.Moreover,the SCG film-based devices also exhibit superior stability comparing with the control one.This work explicitly paves a novel and general strategy for developing high performance lead-free PSCs.     

Energy level engineering of charge selective contact and halide perovskite by modulating band offset:Mechanistic insights

Mixed cation and anion based perovskites solar cells exhibited enhanced stability under outdoor conditions,however,it yielded limited power conversion efficiency when TiO₂ and Spiro-OMeTAD were employed as electron and hole transport layer(ETL/HTL)respectively.The inevitable interfacial recombination of charge carriers at ETL/perovskite and perovskite/HTL interface diminished the efficiency in planar(n-i-p)perovskite solar cells.By employing computational approach for uni-dimensional device simulator,the effect of band offset on charge recombination at both interfaces was investigated.We noted that it acquired cliff structure when the conduction band minimum of the ETL was lower than that of the perovskite,and thus maximized interfacial recombination.However,if the conduction band minimum of ETL is higher than perovskite,a spike structure is formed,which improve the performance of solar cell.An optimum value of conduction band offset allows to reach performance of 25.21%,with an open circuit voltage(VOC)of 1231 mV,a current density JSC of 24.57 mA/cm² and a fill factor of 83.28%.Additionally,we found that beyond the optimum offset value,large spike structure could decrease the performance.With an optimized energy level of Spiro-OMeTAD and the thickness of mixed-perovskite layer performance of 26.56% can be attained.Our results demonstrate a detailed understanding about the energy level tuning between the charge selective layers and perovskite and how the improvement in PV performance can be achieved by adjusting the energy level offset.     

Recent Advances of Pure Organic Room Temperature Phosphorescence Materials for Bioimaging Applications

Bioimaging,as a powerful and helpful tool,which allows people to investigate deeply within living organisms,has contributed a lot for both clinical theranostics and scientific research.Pure organic room temperature phosphorescence(RTP)materials with the unique features of ultralong luminescence lifetime and large Stokes shift,can efficiently avoid biological autofluorescence and scattered light through a time-resolved imaging modality,and thus are attracting increasing attention.This review classifies pure organic RTP materials into three categories,including small molecule RTP materials,polymer RTP materials and supramolecular RTP materials,and summarizes the recent advances of pure organic RTP materials for bioimaging applications.     

A new strategy to access Co/N co-doped carbon nanotubes as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs),as one-dimensional nanomaterials,show great potential in energy conversion and storage due to their efficient electrical conductivity and mass transfer.However,the security risks,time-consuming and high cost of the preparation process hinder its further application.Here,we develop that a negative pressure rather than a following gas environment can promote the generation of cobalt and nitrogen co-doped CNTs(Co/N-CNTs) by using cobalt zeolitic imidazolate framework(ZIF-67) as a precursor,in which the negative pressure plays a key role in adjusting the size of cobalt nanoparticles and stimulating the rearragement of carbon atoms for forming CNTs.Importantly,the obtained Co/N-CNTs,with high content of pyridinic nitrogen and abundant graphitized structure,exhibit superior catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) with half-wave potential(E_1/2) of 0.85 V and durability in terms of the minimum current loss(2%) after the 30,000 s test.Our development provides a new pathway for large-scale and cost-effective preparation of metal-doped CNTs for various applications.     

Stabilizing High-voltage Cathode Materials for Next-generation Li-ion Batteries

The pressing demand for high-energy/power lithium-ion batteries requires the deployment of cathode materials with higher capacity and output voltage.Despite more than ten years of research,high-voltage cathode mate-rials,such as high-voltage layered oxides,spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4,and high-voltage polyanionic compounds still cannot be commercially viable due to the instabilities of standard electrolytes,cathode materials,and cathode electrolyte interphases under high-voltage operation.This paper summarizes the recent advances in addressing the surface and interface issues haunting the application of high-voltage cathode materials.The understanding of the limitations and advantages of different modification protocols will direct the future endeavours on advancing high-energy/power lithium-ion batteries.     

Suppressing trap states and energy loss by optimizing vertical phase distribution through ternary strategy in organic solar cells

Suppressing the trap-state density and the energy loss via ternary strategy was demonstrated.Favorable vertical phase distribution with donors(acceptors)accumulated(depleted)at the interface of active layer and charge extraction layer can be obtained by introducing appropriate amount of polymer acceptor N2200 into the systems of PBDB-T:IT-M and PBDB-TF:Y6.In addition,N2200 is gradiently distributed in the vertical direction in the ternary blend film.Various measurements were carried out to study the effects of N2200 on the binary systems.It was found that the optimized morphology especially in vertical direction can significantly decrease the trap state density of the binary blend films,which is beneficial for the charge transport and collection.All these features enable an obvious decrease in charge recombination in both PBDB-T:IT-M and PBDB-TF:Y6 based organic solar cells(OSCs),and power conversion efficiencies(PCEs)of 12.5%and 16.42%were obtained for the ternary OSCs,respectively.This work indicates that it is an effective method to suppress the trap state density and thus improve the device performance through ternary strategy.     

Conformational Properties of Comb-shaped Polyelectrolytes with Negatively Charged Backbone and Neutral Side Chains Studied by a Generic Coarse-grained Bead-and-Spring Model

A generic coarse-grained bead-and-spring model,mapped onto comb-shaped polycarboxylate-based(PCE)superplasticizers,is developed and studied by Langevin molecular dynamics simulations with implicit solvent and explicit counterions.The agreement on the radius of gyration of the PCEs with experiments shows that our model can be useful in studying the equilibrium sizes of PCEs in solution.The effects of ionic strength,side-chain number,and side-chain length on the conformational behavior of PCEs in solution are explored.Single-chain equilibrium properties,including the radius of gyration,end-to-end distance and persistenee length of the polymer backbone,shape-asphericity parameter,and the mean span dimension,are determined.It is found that with the increase of ionic strength,the equilibrium sizes of the polymers decrease only slightly,and a linear dependenew of the persistence length of backbone on the Debye screening length is found,in good agreement with the theory developed by Dobrynin.Increasing side-chain numbers and/or side-chain lengths increases not only the equilibrium sizes(radius of gyration and mean span)of the polymer as a whole,but also the persistence length of the backbone due to excluded volume interactions.     

Three-dimensionalization via control of laser-structuring parameters for high energy and high power lithium-ion battery under various operating conditions

Laser-structuring is an effective method to promote ion diffusion and improve the performance of lithium-ion battery(LIB)electrodes.In this work,the effects of laser structuring parameters(groove pitch and depth)on the fundamental characteristics of LIB electrode,such as interfacial area,internal resistances,material loss and electrochemical performance,are investigated,LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ cathodes were structured by a femtosecond laser by varying groove depth and pitch,which resulted in a material loss of 5%-14%and an increase of 140%-260%in the in terfacial area between electrode surface and electrolyte.It is shown that the importance of groove depth and pitch on the electrochemical performance(specific capacity and areal discharge capacity)of laser-structured electrode varies with current rates.Groove pitch is more im porta nt at low current rate but groove depth is at high curre nt rate.From the mapping of lithium concentration within the electrodes of varying groove depth and pitch by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy,it is verified that the groove functions as a diffusion path for lithium ions.The ionic,electronic,and charge transfer resistances measured with symmetric and half cells showed that these internal resistances are differently affected by laser structuring parameters and the changes in porosity,ionic diffusion and electronic pathways.It is demonstrated that the laser structuring parameters for maximum electrode performance and minimum capacity loss should be determined in consideration of the main operating conditions of LIBs.     

Mesh-like vertical structures enable both high areal capacity and excellent rate capability

In order to balance electrochemical kinetics with loading level for achieving efficient energy storage with high areal capacity and good rate capability simultaneously for wearable electronics,herein,2 D meshlike vertical structures(NiCo_2 S_4@Ni(OH)_2) with a high mass loading of 2.17 mg cm^-2 and combined merits of both 1 D nanowires and 2 D nanosheets are designed for fabricating flexible hybrid supercapacitors.Particularly,the seamlessly interconnected NiCo_2 S_4 core not only provides high capacity of 287.5 μAh cm^-2 but also functions as conductive skeleton for fast electron transport;Ni(OH)_2 sheath occupying the voids in NiCo_2 S_4 meshes contributes extra capacity of 248.4 μAh cm^-2;the holey features guarantee rapid ion diffusion along and across NiCO_2 S_4@Ni(OH)_2 meshes.The resultant flexible electrode exhibits a high areal capacity of 535.9 μAh cm^-2(246.9 mAh g^-1) at 3 mA cm^-2 and outstanding rate performance with 84.7% retention at 30 mA cm^-2,suggesting efficient utilization of both NiCo_2 S_4 and Ni(OH)_2 with specific capacities approaching to their theoretical values.The flexible solid-state hybrid device based on NiCo_2 S_4@Ni(OH)_2 cathode and Fe_2 O_3 anode delivers a high energy density of 315 μWh cm^-2 at the power density of 2.14 mW cm^-2 with excellent electrochemical cycling stability.     

光催化CO_2转化为碳氢燃料体系的综述

传统化石能源燃烧产生CO2引起的地球变暖和能源短缺已经成为一个严重的全球性问题.利用太阳光和光催化材料将CO2还原为碳氢燃料,不仅可以减少空气中CO2浓度,降低温室效应的影响,还可以提供碳氢燃料,缓解能源短缺问题,因此日益受到各国科学家的高度关注.本文综述了光催化还原CO2为碳氢燃料的研究进展,介绍了光催化还原CO2的反应机理,并对现阶段报道的光催化还原CO2材料体系进行了整理和分类,包括TiO2光催化材料,ABO3型钙钛矿光催化材料,尖晶石型光催化材料,掺杂型光催化材料,复合光催化材料,V、W、Ge、Ga基光催化材料及石墨烯基光催化材料.评述了各种材料体系的特点及光催化性能的一些影响因素.最后对光催化还原CO2的研究前景进行了展望.     

Chlorophyll sensitized BiVO4 as photoanode for solar water splitting and CO2 conversion

Converting solar energy into valuable hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels through photoelectrocatalytic water splitting and CO_2 reduction is highly promising in addressing the growing demand for renewable and clean energy resources. However, the solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency is still very low due to limited light absorption and rapid bulk recombination of charge carriers. In this work, we present chlorophyll(Chl) and its derivative sodium copper chlorophyllin(ChlCuNa), as dye sensitizers, modified BiVO_4 to improve the photoelectrochemical(PEC) performance. The photocurrent of BiVO_4 is surprisingly decreased after a direct sensitization of Chl while the sensitization of ChlCuNa obviously enhances photocurrent of BiV04 electrodes by improved surface hydrophilicity and extended light absorption.ChlCuNa-sensitized BiV04 achieves an improved H_2 evolution rate of 5.43 μmol h~(-1) cm~(-2) in water splitting and an enhanced HCOOH production rate of 2.15 μmol h~(-1) cm~(-2) in CO_2 PEC reduction, which are1.9 times and 2.4 times higher than pristine BiVO_4, respectively. It is suggested that the derivative ChlCuNa is a more effective sensitizer for solar-to-fuel energy conversion and CO_2 utilization than Chl.     

二维/一维BiOBr0.5Cl0.5/WO3 S型异质结助力光催化CO2还原

S型异质结不但可以提高载流子的分离效率,还可以维持较强的氧化还原能力。因此,构建S型异质是提高光催化二氧化碳还原反应的有效途径。本研究通过静电自组装法构建了具有近红外光响应(> 780 nm)的二维BiOBr_0.5Cl_0.5纳米片和一维WO₃纳米棒S型异质结光催化剂,并用于高效还原二氧化碳。能带位置和界面电子相互作用的综合分析表明：在光催化二氧化碳还原反应过程中,BiOBr_0.5Cl_0.5/WO₃遵循S型电子转移路径;不仅提高了载流子的高效分离,还维持了两相(BiOBr_0.5Cl_0.5和WO₃)较高的氧化还原能力。此外,二维纳米片/一维纳米棒的结构使得半导体之间具备良好的界面接触,有利于载流子的分离,且暴露更多的活性位点,最终提高催化效率。结果显示,BiOBr_0.5Cl_0.5/WO₃异质结催化剂表现出较高的CO₂还原能力和CO选择性,CO的产率高达16.68 μmol∙g^-1∙h^-1,分别是BiOBr_0.5Cl_0.5的1.7倍和WO₃的9.8倍。本工作为构建S型二维/一维异质结光催化剂高效还原二氧化碳提供了新的思路。     

基于金属氧化物材料的二氧化碳电催化还原

The CO₂ level in the atmosphere has been increasing since the industrial revolution owing to anthropogenic activities. The increased CO₂ level has led to global warming and also has detrimental effects on human beings. Reducing the CO₂ level in the atmosphere is urgent for balancing the carbon cycle. In this regard, reduction in CO₂ emission and CO₂ storage and usage are the main strategies. Among these, CO₂ usage has been extensively explored, because it can reduce the CO₂ level and simultaneously provide opportunities for the development in catalysts and industries to convert CO₂ as a carbon source for preparing valuable products. However, transformation of CO₂ to other chemicals is challenging owing to its thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities. Among the CO₂ utilization techniques, electrochemical CO₂ reduction (ECR) is a promising alternative because it is generally conducted under ambient conditions, and water is used as the economical hydrogen source. Moreover, ECR offers a potential route to store electrical energy from renewable sources in the form of chemical energy, through generation of CO₂ reduction products. To improve the energy efficiency and viability of ECR, it is important to decrease the operational overpotential and maintain large current densities and high product selectivities; the development of efficient electrocatalysts is a critical aspect in this regard. To date, many kinds of materials have been designed and studied for application in ECR. Among these materials, metal oxide-based materials exhibit excellent performance as electrocatalysts for ECR and are attracting increasing attention in recent years. Investigation of the mechanism of reactions that involve metallic electrocatalysts has revealed the function of trace amount of oxidized metal species—it has been suggested that the presence of metal oxides and metal-oxygen bonds facilitates the activation of CO₂ and the subsequent formation and stabilization of the reaction intermediates, thereby resulting in high efficiency and selectivity of the ECR. Although the stability of metal oxides is a concern as they are prone to reduction under a cathodic potential, the catalytic performance of metal oxide-based catalysts can be maintained through careful designing of the morphology and structure of the materials. In addition, introducing other metal species to metal oxides and fabricating composites of metal oxides and other materials are effective strategies to achieve enhanced performance in ECR. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in the use of metal oxide-based materials as electrocatalysts and their application in ECR. The critical role, stability, and structure-performance relationship of the metal oxide-based materials for ECR are highlighted in the discussion. In the final part, we propose the future prospects for the development of metal oxide-based electrocatalysts for ECR.     

还原氧化石墨烯@泡沫镍载CoO纳米花电极制备及催化CO2性能

本文以氧化石墨烯包覆泡沫镍电极(GO@NF)作为基底,采用水热法在GO@NF基底上原位生长CoO纳米花,同时GO在水热过程中被同步热还原为还原氧化石墨烯(RGO),从而一步制得还原氧化石墨烯包覆泡沫镍负载CoO纳米花电极(CoO/RGO@NF)。使用XRD和SEM对CoO/RGO@NF电极进行表征,发现CoO纳米花均匀生长在泡沫镍三维网络结构上,CoO纳米花为大量针状纳米棒围绕一个中心而成的花状结构,纳米棒的长度约为10 ~ 15 μm,直径约为100 ~ 200 nm。使用循环伏安和线性扫描法测试了CoO/RGO@NF电极电催化CO₂的还原性能,在-0.76 V（vs. SHE）电位下,CoO/RGO@NF电极电催化CO₂还原的电流效率达到70.9%,产甲酸法拉第效率达到65.2%,甲酸产率为59.8 μmol·h^-1·cm^-2,且电极可持续稳定电催化还原CO₂ 4 h,表明CoO/RGO@NF电极对CO₂电还原有着优良的催化活性、选择性和稳定性。     

基于单原子催化剂的二氧化碳选择性转化

Industrial revolution has led to increased combustion of fossil fuels. Consequently, large amounts of CO₂ are emitted to the atmosphere, throwing the carbon cycle out of balance. Currently, the most effective method to reduce the CO₂ concentration is direct CO₂ capture from the atmosphere and pumping of the captured CO₂ deep underground or into the mid-ocean. The transformation of CO₂ into high-value chemicals is an attractive yet challenging task. In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of CO₂ utilization technologies based on electrochemical CO₂ reduction, photochemical CO₂ reduction, and thermal CO₂ reduction, and CO₂ valorization has emerged as a hot research topic. In electrochemical CO₂ reduction, the cathodic reaction is the reduction of CO₂ to value-added chemicals. The anodic reaction should be the oxygen evolution reaction, and water is the only renewable and scalable source of electrons and protons in this reaction. There is a plethora of research on the use of various metals to catalyze this reaction. Among these, Cu-based materials have been demonstrated to show unique catalytic activity and stability for the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to valuable fuels and chemicals. Moreover, the solar-driven conversion of CO₂ into value-added chemical fuels has attracted great attention, and much effort is being devoted to develop novel catalysts for the photoreduction of CO₂, especially by mimicking the natural photosynthetic process. The key step in the photocatalytic process is the efficient generation of electron-hole pairs and separation of these charge carriers. The efficient separation of photoinduced charge carriers plays a crucial role in the final catalytic activity. Compared with CO₂ reduction via electrocatalysis and photocatalysis, thermal reduction is more attractive because of its potential large-scale application in the industry. Heterogeneous nanomaterials show excellent activity in the electrocatalytic, photocatalytic, and thermal catalytic conversion of CO₂. However, nanostructured materials have drawbacks on the investigation of the intrinsic activity of the active sites. In recent years, single-site catalysts have become popular because they allow for maximum utilization of the metal centers, show specific catalytic performance, and facilitate easy elucidation of the catalytic mechanism at the molecular level. Accordingly, numerous single-site catalysts were developed for CO₂ reduction to produce value-added chemicals such as CO, CH₄, CH₃OH, formate, and C₂₊ products. Value-added chemicals have also been synthesized with the aid of amines and epoxides. This review summarizes recent state-of-the-art single-site catalysts and their application as heterogeneous catalysts for the electroreduction, photoreduction, and thermal reduction of CO₂. In the discussion, we will highlight the structure-activity relationships for the catalytic conversion of CO₂ with single-site catalysts.     

反应条件对铜催化CO2电还原的影响

工业规模的化石能源消耗导致大气中二氧化碳含量不断增加,CO₂转化利用成为人们日益关注的热点问题. 金属铜因其成本低廉、储量丰富,并且具有独特的CO₂亲和力能够生成多碳化合物,是目前CO₂电还原中研究最为广泛深入的电极材料. 由于阴、阳离子的特征吸附对Cu电极性能有显著影响,并且不同反应体系中对Cu电极上CO₂吸附、活化影响也有所不同,因此导致金属Cu电极上报道的电催化活性、产物种类与选择性等都非常宽泛. 基于此,有必要系统地研究各种反应条件对金属Cu电极电催化CO₂还原性能的影响. 作者选择了平均粒径为600 nm的商品化金属Cu颗粒作为电还原CO₂的催化剂,研究了不同反应条件包括各种常用电解质溶液、KHCO₃的浓度以及H型电解池和流动池. 实验结果表明,浓度为0.5 mol·L ^-1的KHCO₃作为电解质溶液具有较好催化活性和较高的产物分电流密度,流动池可以进一步提高主要产物甲酸盐和CO的分电流密度. 本研究工作从反应条件的角度对CO₂还原的电催化转化进行了系统研究,有助于理解电解液和反应器等因素对CO₂电还原反应过程的影响规律.     

在TiO2纳米阵列上电沉积RuO2用于CO2电还原

传统上,RuO₂/TiO₂复合电极制备是通过在TiO₂/Ti基体上多次涂覆含Ru前驱体溶液和随后热分解（TD）来实现的. 为克服上述方法中Ru用量大和利用率低之不足, 本工作主要基于循环伏安法（CV）在TiO₂纳米管阵列（TNA）上电沉积RuO₂制备RuO₂^CV/TNA复合电极. SEM、GIXRD和CV结果表明, 电沉积的RuO₂为无定型结构, 所制备电极中的Ru用量约为传统的RuO₂^TD/TNA电极中Ru用量的1/30. 尽管两电极催化CO₂还原产物的法拉第效率接近, 但是RuO₂^CV/TNA电极比RuO₂^TD/TNA电极展示了更高的还原电流, 较正的初始还原电位和更好的稳定性. 与磷酸盐缓冲溶液中电还原CO₂相比,RuO₂^CV/TNA电极在0.1 mol•L^-1 KHCO₃中电还原CO₂除生成更高法拉第效率的甲酸根和甲烷外,还检测到CO的生成.     

气体分子在二维石墨烯纳米孔中的选择性渗透特性

二维石墨烯纳米孔中气体分子的选择性渗透对多孔石墨烯分离膜非常重要。本文采用分子动力学方法研究了气体分子在氮氢修饰石墨烯纳米孔中的渗透特性,从分子的大小和结构、纳米孔的构型以及分子与石墨烯之间的作用强度等角度阐明了分子出现选择性渗透的原因。结果表明,不同分子的渗透率不同,即H₂O＞H₂S＞CO₂＞N₂＞CH₄。渗透率跟分子的质量和直径以及分子在石墨烯表面上的吸附密度有关;根据气体分子动理学理论,渗透率跟分子质量成反比关系;而分子在石墨烯表面上的高吸附密度对渗透起促进作用。对于H₂O和CH₄分子,分子直径起主导作用;H₂O分子直径最小,其渗透率最大;同理,CH₄分子的渗透率最小。对于H₂S和CO₂分子,H₂S分子的直径较大,但其与石墨烯之间的作用强度较大(吸附密度较高),导致渗透率较高;对于CO₂和N₂分子,CO₂分子的直径较小,并且与石墨烯之间的作用强度较大,渗透率较高。同时发现,分子在纳米孔中的渗透使得其在石墨烯表面的密度分布极不均匀。纳米孔左右两侧的功能化氮原子使CH₄分子容易从孔两侧区域穿过,而其它分子由于直径较小在纳米孔中心区域穿过的概率最大。分子与石墨烯之间的作用越强,导致分子在石墨烯表面区域内停留的时间越长,最终使其在渗透纳米孔的过程中所经历的时间越长。本文所采用的氮氢修饰石墨烯纳米孔中,分子渗透速率达到~10^-3 mol·s^-1·m^-2·Pa^-1,并且其它分子相对于CH₄分子的选择性也很高,说明基于该类型纳米孔的多孔石墨烯分离膜在天然气处理等工业气体分离领域具有很好的应用前景。     

基于CdS和CdSe纳米半导体材料的可见光催化二氧化碳还原研究进展

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is one of the main greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The conversion of CO₂ into solar fuels (CO, HCOOH, CH₄, CH₃OH, etc.) using artificial photosynthetic systems is an ideal way to utilize CO₂ as a resource and reduce CO₂ emissions. A typical artificial photosynthetic system is composed of three key components: a photosensitizer (PS) to harvest visible light, a catalyst (C) to catalyze CO₂ or protons into carbon-based fuels or H₂, respectively, and a sacrificial electron donor (SED) to consume the holes generated in the PS. In most cases, the PS and catalyst are two different components of a system. However, some components that possess both light harvesting and redox catalysis functionalities, e.g., nano-semiconductors, are referred to as photocatalysts. During photocatalysis, the PS is typically excited by photons to generate excited electrons. The excited electrons in the PS are transferred to the catalyst to generate a reduced catalyst. The reduced catalyst is used as an active intermediate to perform CO₂ binding and transformation. The PS can be recovered through a reaction with the SED. Nano-semiconductors have been used as photosensitizers and/or photocatalysts in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction systems owing to their excellent photophysical and photochemical properties and photostability. CdS and CdSe nano-semiconductors, such as quantum dots, nanorods, and nanosheets, have been widely used in the construction of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction systems. Systems based on CdS or CdSe nano-semiconductors can be classified into three categories. The first category is systems based on CdS or CdSe photocatalysts. In these systems, CdS or CdSe nano-semiconductors function as photocatalysts to catalyze CO₂ reduction without a co-catalyst under visible-light irradiation. The CO₂ reduction reaction occurs at the surface of the CdS or CdSe nano-semiconductors. The second category is systems based on CdS or CdSe composite photocatalysts. CdS or CdSe nano-semiconductors are combined with functional materials, such as reduced graphene oxide or TiO₂, to prepare composite photocatalysts. These composite photocatalysts are expected to improve the lifetime of the charge separation state and inhibit the photocorrosion of the nano-semiconductors during photocatalysis. The third category is hybrid systems containing a CdS nano-semiconductor and molecular catalysts, such as nickel and cobalt complexes and iron porphyrin. In these hybrid systems, CdS functions as a photosensitizer and the CO₂ reduction reaction occurs at the molecular catalyst. This review article introduces the construction of artificial photosynthetic systems and the photocatalytic mechanism of nano-semiconductors, and summarizes the representative works in the three aforementioned categories of systems. Finally, the challenges of nano-semiconductors for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction are discussed.