Abstract
Energy is the fundamental requirement of all physical, chemical, and biological processes which are utilized for better living standards. The toll that the process of development takes on the environment and economic activity is evident from the arising concerns about sustaining the industrialization that has happened in the last centuries. The increase in carbon footprint and the large-scale pollution caused by industrialization has led researchers to think of new ways to sustain the developmental activities, whilst simultaneously minimizing the harming effects on the enviroment. Therefore, decarbonization strategies have become an important factor in industrial expansion, along with the invention of new catalytic methods for carrying out non-thermal reactions, energy storage methods and environmental remediation through the removal or breakdown of harmful chemicals released during manufacturing processes. The present article discusses the structural features and photocatalytic applications of a variety of metal oxide-based materials. Moreover, the practical applicability of these materials is also discussed, as well as the transition of production to an industrial scale. Consequently, this study deals with a concise framework to link metal oxide application options within energy, environmental and economic sustainability, exploring the footprint analysis as well.
Highlights
Metal oxides play a key role in environmental remediation and pollutant sensing and are strategic in several other applications including energy production, conversion and storage
All the mentioned metal oxides drawbacks can be limited by opportune synthesis processes, doping, co-doping, and nanostructuring, enhancing and tailoring the materials’ catalytic properties for PEC water splitting or environmental remediation, as described in the following paragraphs
As one of the most sought-after fields of research due to the scope of structural and functional variation that can be produced, metal oxides continue to be explored for the environmental remediation, for solving the energy crisis and for decarbonization
Summary
Metal oxides play a key role in environmental remediation and pollutant sensing and are strategic in several other applications including energy production, conversion and storage. The release of toxic and often difficult to degrade chemicals from industries producing pharmaceuticals, textiles and paints leads to large-scale water and soil pollution. In this regard, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have been known to exhibit good photocatalytic properties for the degradation of such chemicals. An environmental remediation photocatalyst works by facilitating oxidation and reduction processes via trapping the light energy which leads to quick degradation of the targeted pollutants. The present review deals with the recent advances in photocatalytic applications of selected metal oxides for pollution remediation and energy production. The study highlights how metal oxide are used in applications for energy and environmental sustainability, taking into account the limit of their practical application on large scale
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