Engineering pathways in photocatalytic alcohol splitting: A comprehensive review

Photocatalytic alcohol splitting (PAS) has recently emerged as a dual-function platform that integrates solar-driven hydrogen production with the selective oxidation of alcohols into value-added carbonyl compounds of industrial relevance. Despite substantial advances in material development, achieving the simultaneous optimization of activity, selectivity, and stability remains challenging, primarily due to inherent limitations in light harvesting, charge-carrier separation, and interfacial reaction kinetics. This review consolidates recent progress in material and mechanistic design strategies aimed at addressing these limitations. Particular emphasis is placed on surface and bulk engineering, defect chemistry, heterojunction construction, and cocatalyst integration, which collectively define the structure-function relationships governing PAS performance. Through a critical assessment of these approaches, we identify unifying design principles for optimizing charge-carrier dynamics while maintaining selective bond activation. Finally, emerging research directions are highlighted that may accelerate the transition of PAS from fundamental studies toward practical solar-to-chemical energy conversion systems.