Perovskite-Based Materials for Photocatalytic Environmental Remediation

Abstract

In recent years, although several inorganic photocatalysts, including metal oxides, sulphides and nitrides, have been explored for environmental remediation applications, perovskite oxides (ABO3) have gained much attention due to their low cost, excellent stability and structural tunability. This book chapter discusses the design and development of perovskite-based photocatalysts for organic pollutant degradation and CO2 reduction applications along with recent findings and advances in this category of materials. After a brief introduction on the general structure of perovskite materials, the description of basic principles of photocatalysis and mechanisms involved in organic pollutant degradation and CO2 reduction processes have been discussed in detail. The focus is mainly on the strategies involved in the design of perovskite photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity. Subsequently, some recent reports on diverse organic pollutant degradation and CO2 reduction using perovskite-based photocatalysts are discussed and summarized in tables. Finally, a summary is provided in order to comment on the recent progress and development of perovskite photocatalysts for the utilization of solar energy, and a perspective on the future research in this field is discussed.