6 - High photocatalytic activity under visible light for dye degradation

Abstract

In recent times, there is a significant increase in concern for the availability of clean drinking water. Among others, one source of water pollution is different textile industries that release different coloring agents, that is, dyes in their effluent after use. Therefore, researchers are presently focusing their significant interest in finding efficient techniques for removing such dyes from wastewater due to their hazardous effects on public health and the environment. Among the different dye-degradation treatments for contaminated water, photocatalytic dye degradation is an effective process of degrading the pollutants. Significant amounts of research have been done in photocatalytic dye degradation. However, visible light-activated photocatalysts’ development is still a big challenge, as most of the commercially available semiconductor photocatalysts work under ultraviolet light irradiation. Hence, finding alternative visible-light active photocatalysts is another important research topic for the future generation. In this chapter, we have tried to highlight the latest developments in syntheses, characterizations, optical and catalytic properties of some semiconductor nanomaterials, including those of some 2D materials for visible-light-induced photocatalytic dye-degradation applications. Here we have also presented a comparison of photocatalytic dye degradation performances of some 1D–2D semiconducting nanomaterials. Some conclusions have also been made about the technique of syntheses of some nanomaterials for achieving optimum dye-degradation performance even under sunlight irradiation. The present research studies furnished in this chapter are expected to be very useful in identifying some appropriate nanomaterials for the development of visible-light-induced photocatalytic materials for water purification and environmental remediation.