Gold hybrid nanomaterials: Prospective on photocatalytic activities for wastewater treatment application

Abstract

Nowadays, water pollution caused by the discharge of organic pollutants into our natural water resources originating from different industries poses a severe threat to the environment. In order to mitigate this problem, photocatalysis system has been used. However, this process mainly focuses on metal oxide semiconductors as photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants. Even though metal oxides have excellent activity under UV irradiation, the high degree of recombination between photogenerated charges and the wide band gap reduce the efficiency under solar irradiation. AuNPs have attracted much attention due to the exceptional visible light absorption of 2.30 ev–2.40 ev and high electron storage capacity which acts as a sink for photo-induced charge carriers. The integration of plasmonic AuNPs is an effective strategy to promote solar light harvesting as well as efficient photocatalysis up to 96–99%. The novelty of this review is highlighted on the recent studies of intrinsic AuNP's properties with the integration of carbon nanomaterials, ceramics and polymers as functional support to improve the photocatalytic activity under solar irradiation. The benefits and shortcomings of the various supports as well as the effectiveness on different targeted organic pollutants and dyes are explored in further details.