Abstract
Photocatalytic nanomaterials such as TiO2 are receiving a great deal of attention owing to their potential applications in environmental remediation. Nonetheless, the low efficiency of this class of materials in the visible range has, so far, hampered their large-scale application. The increasing demand for highly efficient, visible-light-active photocatalysts can be addressed by hybrid nanostructured materials in which two or more units, each characterised by peculiar physical properties, surface chemistry and morphology, are combined together into a single nano-object with unprecedented chemical–physical properties. The present review intends to focus on hybrid nanomaterials, based on TiO2 nanoparticles able to perform visible-light-driven photocatalytic processes for environmental applications. We give a brief overview of the synthetic approaches recently proposed in the literature to synthesise hybrid nanocrystals and discuss the potential applications of such nanostructures in water remediation, abatement of atmospheric pollutants (including NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) and their use in self-cleaning surfaces.
Highlights
Visible-light-driven photocatalytic processes represent the current frontier of research in the field of photocatalysis
CdS/TiO22 nanofibers nanofibers have have exhibited exhibited enhanced enhanced with photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation, which might arise from the increased surface photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation, which might arise from the increased surface area and the promoted electrons–holes separation on the hierarchical structure (Figure area and the promoted electrons–holes separation on the hierarchical structure (Figure 4) [44]
The UV-Vis extinction spectrum of the Au/Ag/TiO2 core-shell nanoparticles in water (Figure 6f) is characterised by a longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band centred at 670 nm
Summary
Visible-light-driven photocatalytic processes represent the current frontier of research in the field of photocatalysis. Thanks to the size-dependent band gap of nanosized semiconductors, it is possible to finely tune the redox potentials of photogenerated electron–hole pairs to selectively control photochemical reactions. An additional challenge is represented by the need to improve the efficiency of photocatalytic processes in order to reduce electron–hole (e− /h+ ) pair recombination, and to finely control size, shape, crystalline phase and surface chemistry of TiO2 nanoparticles. We will focus our attention on such a class of hybrid nanocrystals, able to perform visible-light-driven photocatalytic processes for environmental application. In the second part of the review, we will discuss the potential application of hybrid nanocrystals in water remediation, abatement of atmospheric pollutants (NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) and their integration in construction materials for achieving self-cleaning surfaces and photocatalytic cements
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