A Systematic Review of Metal Oxide Applications for Energy and Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Energy is the fundamental requirement of all physical, chemical, and biological processes which are utilized for better living standards. The toll that the process of development takes on the environment and economic activity is evident from the arising concerns about sustaining the industrialization that has happened in the last centuries. The increase in carbon footprint and the large-scale pollution caused by industrialization has led researchers to think of new ways to sustain the developmental activities, whilst simultaneously minimizing the harming effects on the enviroment. Therefore, decarbonization strategies have become an important factor in industrial expansion, along with the invention of new catalytic methods for carrying out non-thermal reactions, energy storage methods and environmental remediation through the removal or breakdown of harmful chemicals released during manufacturing processes. The present article discusses the structural features and photocatalytic applications of a variety of metal oxide-based materials. Moreover, the practical applicability of these materials is also discussed, as well as the transition of production to an industrial scale. Consequently, this study deals with a concise framework to link metal oxide application options within energy, environmental and economic sustainability, exploring the footprint analysis as well.

Metal Oxide-Based Photocatalytic Paper: A Green Alternative for Environmental Remediation

“…Several studies reported the use of metal oxide materials in the photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants/dyes [19,34,37,38,[71][72][73][74]. However, their photocatalytic performance strongly depends on the crystal structure, morphology, elemental composition, crystalline phase, exposed surface facets, intrinsic defects (such as oxygen vacancies), lattice distortions, and doping, among others [75][76][77]. In fact, the presence of oxygen vacancies directly influences the final photocatalytic performance of such materials [78].…”

Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Using Zinc Oxide Nanorods Grown on Activated Carbon Fibers

“…Metal oxide semiconductors have been widely studied as photocatalysts to remove organic pollutants from air and water [1][2][3][4]. The photocatalysis process takes place through the activation of the metal oxides by suitable photon energy that generates the active sites of electron-hole pairs, which induce the catalytic activities on the metal oxides' surfaces [5].…”

Determination of 4-nitrophenol using MoO3 loaded glassy carbon electrode via electrochemical sensing approach

“…Mn, Cu, Co, Ti, Mo, and W) and their electrode materials have turn out to be an essential part of the research field concerned primarily to avoiding environmental and energy crises via degrading environmental organic pollutants and green energy production [18]. It is interesting to note, however, that two-dimensional structure of MoO3, is analogous to graphene, and therefore, it could also be considered as a promising material in sensing applications, due to high surface area, thermal stability, superior mobility, and high electrochemical performances compared to other metal oxides [19].…”