Review of Polymeric Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The continuous upsurge in water pollution caused by harmful organic and inorganic contaminants has led to a shortage of nontoxic, clean water and effective waste management. Therefore, it is crucial to establish an eco-friendly approach using sustainable, biodegradable, and recyclable materials to treat the wastewater. In this regard, photocatalysts are highly effective for mitigating water pollution to a certain degree through an energy-efficient and greener approach. Among various photocatalysts, polymeric nanocomposites have attracted considerable consideration owing to their several advantageous characteristics like higher surface area, extended surface to volume ratio, advanced adsorption efficiency, and application for the degradation of harmful contaminants. In this comprehensive review, we have focused on the recent synthetic approaches for development of polymeric nanocomposites. Also, the application of these polymeric nanocomposites for the degradation of harmful contaminants has also been extensively summarized. This article further extensively discusses the process of photocatalysis to provide a clear understanding to the reader.

In Situ Synthesis of Exfoliated Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets and AgNPs-Embedded Functionalized Polyindole-Based Trinary Hybrid Microspheres: A Z-Scheme Photocatalyst for the Sunlight-Driven Degradation of Organic Pollutants with Enhanced Antibacterial Efficacy

“…Nevertheless, to overcome some inherent flaws of the nanocomposites in photocatalytic performance, including the high recombination rate of the photoexcitons, the short lifespan of the photogenerated charge carriers, the limited absorption of visible light, and the delayed electron transport, it has become accustomed to characterize the trend of the formation of solid-state-mediated Z-schemes over the common Z-scheme heterostructures. Therefore, a noble metal mediator-based ternary Z-scheme heterojunction with electron channelizers for rapid charge carrier separation efficiency has been selected as an efficient photocatalyst for multiple pollutant degradation under visible light . Recently, a series of reports revealed that the plasmonic silver (Ag 0 )-based Z-scheme system significantly improves the photocatalytic activity by generating an induced local electric field under visible light, owing to the excellent electron conductivity and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of plasmonic silver (Ag 0 ) or metallic nanosilver (AgNP). , …”