Over the past recent years, nanoparticles have been the subject of numerous studies, due to their unique intrinsic properties. In particular, they have found widespread interest in heterogeneous catalysis, and their development in this area is growing.Nevertheless, they still display drawbacks and, among them, the question of their recyclability may arise. In order to avoid tedious filtration steps, metallic nanoparticles may be advantageously supported on miscellaneous porous materials. Polymer materials can be envisaged as versatile and effective supports, due to their low production cost and easy functionalization. This review will first focus on different types of porous polymers developed in view of their further use as catalytic supports. Then, a brief description of the nanoparticles synthesis will be addressed, before a presentation of typical examples reported in the literature about metallic nanoparticles immobilized on porous polymers meant for heterogeneous supported catalysis.

Photocatalysis is one of the most promising processes for treating air and water pollution. Innovative civil engineering materials for environmental depollution by photocatalysis have already been synthesized by incorporating TiO2 or ZnO nanoparticles in cement. This method suffers from two flaws: first, most of the NPs are incorporated into the cement and useless for photocatalysis; second, rain and wind could spread the potentially carcinogenic nanoparticles from the cement surface into nature. Thus, we propose the efficient synthesis of nontoxic and biocompatible ZnO nanostructures solely onto the surface of commercially available concrete and tiling pavements by a low-cost and low-temperature hydrothermal method. Our samples exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for degrading organic dyes in aqueous media, and dye molecules are commonly used in the pharmaceutical, food, and textile industries. Durability studies showed no loss of efficiency after four photocatalysis experiments. Such supported structures, which are easy to implement onto the varying surfaces of commercially available materials, are promising for integration into civil engineering surfaces for environmental depollution in our daily life.