Lanthanide-doped upconversion materials: emerging applications for photovoltaics and photocatalysis

Photovoltaics and photocatalysis are two significant applications of clean and sustainable solar energy, albeit constrained by their inability to harvest the infrared spectrum of solar radiation. Lanthanide-doped materials are particularly promising in this regard, with tunable absorption in the infrared region and the ability to convert the long-wavelength excitation into shorter-wavelength light output through an upconversion process. In this review, we highlight the emerging applications of lanthanide-doped upconversion materials in the areas of photovoltaics and photocatalysis. We attempt to elucidate the fundamental physical principles that govern the energy conversion by the upconversion materials. In addition, we intend to draw attention to recent technologies in upconversion nanomaterials integrated with photovoltaic and photocatalytic devices. This review also provides a useful guide to materials synthesis and optoelectronic device fabrication based on lanthanide-doped upconversion materials.