The cover art is attributed to an article entitled “Development of Photocatalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis Aiming at Carbon Neutrality” commemorated for the Society Award of Electrochemical Society of Japan (Takei Award) by Professor Akihiko Kudo. The authors liken chess pieces to the roles of photoelectrochemical catalysts. The three chess pieces hint at different “winning lines”: a straight thrust, a leap, and long-range coordination suggesting suitable crystal engineering for development of photocatalysts and photoelectrochemical cells with band engineering. In this light, they point to two strands of the work. One concerns material systems that combine visible-range absorption with efficient hole transport by creating a “new valence band,” exemplified by BiVO4 (Bi 6s) and SnNb2O6 (Sn 5s). The other concerns design approaches that steer photoexcited carriers in one direction through cascaded band alignment, including Z-scheme architectures such as the (CuGa)0.5ZnS2–BiVO4 couple for CO2 reduction with O2 evolution. Taken together, these motifs may be read as evoking a variety of “moves”: robust performance in single-phase materials and defect/doping control; the opening of new pathways through valence-band re-design; and, further, cascaded band alignment realized through solid solutions, heterojunctions, and electron mediators.
The cover art is attributed to an article entitled “Development of Photocatalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis Aiming at Carbon Neutrality” commemorated for the Society Award of Electrochemical Society of Japan (Takei Award) by Professor Akihiko Kudo. The authors liken chess pieces to the roles of photoelectrochemical catalysts. The three chess pieces hint at different “winning lines”: a straight thrust, a leap, and long-range coordination suggesting suitable crystal engineering for development of photocatalysts and photoelectrochemical cells with band engineering. In this light, they point to two strands of the work. One concerns material systems that combine visible-range absorption with efficient hole transport by creating a “new valence band,” exemplified by BiVO4 (Bi 6s) and SnNb2O6 (Sn 5s). The other concerns design approaches that steer photoexcited carriers in one direction through cascaded band alignment, including Z-scheme architectures such as the (CuGa)0.5ZnS2–BiVO4 couple for CO2 reduction with O2 evolution. Taken together, these motifs may be read as evoking a variety of “moves”: robust performance in single-phase materials and defect/doping control; the opening of new pathways through valence-band re-design; and, further, cascaded band alignment realized through solid solutions, heterojunctions, and electron mediators.
The cover art is attributed to an article entitled “Advances of Perovskite Solar Cells: Interface Engineering to Achieve High Photovoltage Performance” by Prof. Tsutomu Miyasaka et al. selected as an Editor’s Choice for the 72nd Special Feature, “Research Frontiers of Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion and Photocatalysis” recommended jointly by the guest editors from The Photoelectrochemistry Research Group and the editorial board. It synthesizes and advances a rapidly industrializing field: halide-perovskite thin-film photovoltaics now achieving 27% power conversion efficiency, rivaling single-crystalline Si. The authors present compelling evidence that interface molecular engineering—especially SAM-modified heterojunctions in inverted p-i-n architectures—delivers efficiency on par with conventional n-i-p devices and lead to cost reduction with simplified layer structures. The work combines clear mechanistic insight with practical design rules and proposes new device structures directly relevant to scalable manufacturing and long-term stability. Its originality, rigor, and translational impact make it an outstanding contribution worthy of recognition. This cover art was created and published with financial support from The Electrochemical Society.
The cover art is attributed to an article entitled “Tuning Photoluminescence and Magnetic Properties of Ag–Ga–S and Zn–Ag–Ga–S Quantum Dots via Mn2+ Doping” by Prof. Tsukasa Torimoto et al. selected as an Editor’s Choice for the 72nd Special Feature, “Research Frontiers of Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion and Photocatalysis” recommended jointly by the guest editors from The Photoelectrochemistry Research Group and the editorial board of Electrochemistry. In this article, the authors report the first synthesis of Mn2+-doped AgGaS2 and Ag–Ga–Zn–S quantum dots (QDs) via a one-pot method. These QDs were low in toxicity, and the Mn2+-doping improved their photoluminescence quantum yield to as high as 45%. The doping also rendered the QDs paramagnetic and readily detectable by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Therefore, those QDs are promising as nanoprobes for both photoluminescence- and MRI-based bioimaging.
The article entitled “Effects of ohmic contact formation between GaN photocatalyst and Pt cocatalyst” by Prof. Tsutomu Minegishi et al. selected as an Editor’s Choice for the 72nd Special Feature, “Research Frontiers of Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion and Photocatalysis” recommended jointly by the guest editors from The Photoelectrochemistry Research Group and the editorial board of Electrochemistry. In this article, the authors have investigated GaN thin films as a model photocatalyst system and successfully monitored the electrode potentials of GaN and cocatalysts under light irradiation in aqueous media. Notably, the use of a Pt/Ti bilayer cocatalyst was found to eliminate the Schottky barrier between GaN and Pt, resulting in the formation of an ohmic contact. The insights provided by this article into the electric interactions at the semiconductor/cocatalyst interface under operational conditions is highly valuable for the research in photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting.
