Abstract
Sustainable water processing techniques have been extensively investigated and are capable of improving water quality. Among the techniques, photocatalytic technology has shown great potential in recent years as a low cost, environmentally friendly and sustainable technology. However, the major challenge in the industrial development of photocatalyst technology is to develop an ideal photocatalyst which must have high photocatalytic activity, a large specific surface area, harvest sunlight and shows recyclability. Keeping these views, the present review highlighted the synthesis approaches of graphene/metal oxide nanocomposite, characterization techniques and their prominent applications in photocatalysis. Various parameters such as photocatalyst loading, structure of photocatalyst, temperature, pH, effect of oxidizing species and wavelength of light were addressed which could affect the rate of degradation. Moreover, the formation of intermediates during photo-oxidation of organic pollutants using these photocatalysts is also discussed. The analysis concluded with a synopsis of the importance of graphene-based materials in pollutant removal. Finally, a brief overview of the problems and future approaches in the field is also presented.
Highlights
Clean and safe drinking water is essential for human health
TiO2 is widely utilized in wastewater treatment study as a photocatalyst due to its 1) excellent stability, 2) low price and low toxicity and 3) improved photocatalytic activity compared to other semiconductor materials (Mir et al, 2013; Umar et al, 2013; Malik et al, 2014; Bhanvase et al, 2017; Hunge et al, 2021)
Based on the surface functionalization in the development of graphene semi-continuous composites with tunable textural and surface chemical features, carboxylic, hydroxyl and epoxy groups combine with valuable functionality compounds such as polymeric materials and metal oxides and accountable to use in different applications (Vadivel et al, 2019)
Summary
Clean and safe drinking water is essential for human health. Human health requires clean water, free of poisonous and carcinogenic compounds and dangerous microorganisms. A large number of harmful organic and inorganic compounds in the water bodies pose a major threat to human health (Escherichia et al, 2020) To address such kinds of issues there is a critical need to develop the wastewater treatment technique. TiO2 is widely utilized in wastewater treatment study as a photocatalyst due to its 1) excellent stability, 2) low price and low toxicity and 3) improved photocatalytic activity compared to other semiconductor materials (Mir et al, 2013; Umar et al, 2013; Malik et al, 2014; Bhanvase et al, 2017; Hunge et al, 2021). The characteristics of ZnO, TiO2 and GO, methodologies for GO/metal oxide nanocomposites synthesis, the photocatalytic mechanism for degradation, factors effecting the efficiencies of the photocatalyst, existing difficulties are discussed and recommendations for future works are proposed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
