Black phosphorous-based nanostructures in environmental remediation: Current status and future perspectives

Abstract

In recent years, increased attention has been given to black phosphorous (BP)-based materials (i.e., 2D nanomaterials) due to their applications in electronics, biomedical equipment, energy conversion and storage, and environmental remediation. The uses of BP-based materials in pollution control are emerging. BP possesses puckered honeycomb like structure with high surface area, high charge-carrier mobility, and layer-dependent direct-bandgap (0.3–2.0 eV) for broadband light absorption. These properties make BP a superior material to carry out solar light-based photocatalytic processes. This review presents the current status of these materials in adsorption and photocatalytic processes in removing a wide range of pollutants from water and air. The progress made in elucidating the mechanisms of the processes is discussed. The strong interactions between the active sites of BP and the pollutants (e.g., As(III) and Cr(VI)) result in the excellent efficiency of the materials in pollution remediation of the spiked clean water samples. In the photocatalytic processes, the superior performance for eliminating pollutants (e.g., dyes) is attributed to the improved light harvesting and reduced recombination of the photo-induced electrons and holes. Importantly, BP-based composites possess significantly enhanced stability and excellent reusability in both adsorptive and photocatalytic processes. Future investigations on BP-based materials should include their structural development to enhance their stability and usability in real environmental matrices.