Polyoxometalate‐Based Compounds for Photo‐ and Electrocatalytic Applications

Photo/electrocatalysis of water (H2O) splitting and CO2 reduction reactions is a promising strategy to alleviate the energy crisis and excessive CO2 emissions. For the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) involved, the development of effective photo/electrocatalysts is critical to reduce the activation energy and accelerate the sluggish dynamics. Polyoxometalate (POM)‐based compounds with tunable compositions and diverse structures are emerging as unique photo/electrocatalysts for these reactions as they offer unparalleled advantages such as outstanding solution and redox stability, quasi‐semiconductor behaviour, etc. This Minireview provides a basic introduction related to photo/electrocatalytic HER, OER and CO2RR, followed by the classification of pristine POM‐based compounds toward different catalytic reactions. Recent breakthroughs in engineering POM‐based compounds as efficient photo/electrocatalysts are highlighted. Finally, the advantages, challenges, strategies and outlooks of POM‐based compounds on improving photo/electrocatalytic performance are discussed. Polyoxometalate chemistry has shown great application potential in the field of catalysis. This Minireview outlines and discusses the advantages, recent advances, challenges, strategies and future development of POM‐based compounds as photo/electrocatalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and CO2 reduction reaction.