Direct capture of
solar energy for chemical transformation via
photocatalysis proves to be a cost-effective and energy-saving approach
to construct organic compounds. With the recent growth in photosynthesis,
photopolymerization has been established as a robust strategy for
the production of specialty polymers with complex structures, precise
molecular weight, and narrow dispersity. A key challenge in photopolymerization
is the scarcity of effective photomediators (photoinitiators, photocatalysts,
etc.) that can provide polymerization with high yield and well-defined
polymer products. Current efforts on developing photomediators have
mainly focused on organic dyes and metal complexes. On the other hand,
nanomaterials (NMs), particularly semiconducting nanomaterials (SNMs),
are suitable candidates for photochemical reactions due to their unique
optical and electrical properties, such as high absorption coefficients,
large charge diffusion lengths, and broad absorption spectra. This
review provides a comprehensive insight into SNMs’ photomediated
polymerizations and highlights the roles SNMs play in photopolymerizations,
types of polymerizations, applications in producing advanced materials,
and the future directions.