Photocatalysis is a chemical reaction that occurs under the action of light. It is essentially a process of converting photoenergy into chemical energy in a substance. In the solar spectrum, more than 95% of the wavelength bands belong to visible (Vis) and near-infrared (NIR) light, and the remaining less than 5% belongs to the ultraviolet (UV) region. Among the studied semiconductor photocatalysts, since the energy of UV and Vis light is large enough to be captured and utilized by most photocatalysts, the photocatalytic reactions are mostly based on the UV and Vis regions. NIR light has a wide range of wavelengths and low energy. The photogenerated carriers produced by materials with NIR light responsiveness are extremely easy to recombine, resulting in only a few materials that have a response to NIR light that are applied to photocatalytic reactions.

Photocatalytic materials with wide spectrum absorption and high carrier separation efficiency are important factors that determine whether the photocatalytic technology can be popularized. In order to obtain a NIR light responsive photocatalyst with higher photocatalytic activity, the necessary design and preparation are important strategies to improve the photocatalytic reaction activity. How to effectively improve the photoresponsive range of semiconductors and facilitate the separation of photogenerated carriers are key scientific issues in the field of photocatalysis. Converting low-density solar energy into high-density chemical energy (hydrogen energy) and directly using low-density solar energy to degrade and mineralize various pollutants is a great challenge for photocatalytic technology and near-infrared light responsive photocatalysis. Although the use of narrow band gap semiconductors and surface plasmon resonance effects can improve the utilization of light, achieving uniform dispersion of materials and spatial separation of photogenerated carriers remains very challenging.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collate state-of-the-art studies and introduce a series of articles that explore the nature of visible and near infrared light responsive photocatalysis. We welcome both original research and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Visible and near-infrared light responsive photocatalysis in environmental catalysis and environmental chemistry
• Visible and near-infrared light responsive photocatalysis in energy catalysis
• Structure-activity relationship of visible and near-infrared photocatalytic materials
• New strategies and new theories for visible and near-infrared light responsive photocatalysis
• Surface plasmon and metal single atom photocatalysis
• Small bandgap semiconductors for photocatalysis
• Photocatalytic degradation
• Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution
• Photocatalytic CO2 reduction
• Solar water splitting