Kumar Suneel, Kumar Ashish, Bahuguna Ashish, Sharma Vipul, Krishnan Venkata
School of Basic Sciences and Advanced Materials Research Center, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, Mandi 175005, H.P., India.
Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2017 Aug 3;8:1571-1600. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.8.159. eCollection 2017.
In the pursuit towards the use of sunlight as a sustainable source for energy generation and environmental remediation, photocatalytic water splitting and photocatalytic pollutant degradation have recently gained significant importance. Research in this field is aimed at solving the global energy crisis and environmental issues in an ecologically-friendly way by using two of the most abundant natural resources, namely sunlight and water. Over the past few years, carbon-based nanocomposites, particularly graphene and graphitic carbon nitride, have attracted much attention as interesting materials in this field. Due to their unique chemical and physical properties, carbon-based nanocomposites have made a substantial contribution towards the generation of clean, renewable and viable forms of energy from light-based water splitting and pollutant removal. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the recent research progress in the field of energy generation and environmental remediation using two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites. It begins with a brief introduction to the field, basic principles of photocatalytic water splitting for energy generation and environmental remediation, followed by the properties of carbon-based nanocomposites. Then, the development of various graphene-based nanocomposites for the above-mentioned applications is presented, wherein graphene plays different roles, including electron acceptor/transporter, cocatalyst, photocatalyst and photosensitizer. Subsequently, the development of different graphitic carbon nitride-based nanocomposites as photocatalysts for energy and environmental applications is discussed in detail. This review concludes by highlighting the advantages and challenges involved in the use of two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalysis. Finally, the future perspectives of research in this field are also briefly mentioned.
在将阳光用作能源生产和环境修复的可持续来源的探索中，光催化水分解和光催化污染物降解近来变得极为重要。该领域的研究旨在通过利用两种最为丰富的自然资源，即阳光和水，以生态友好的方式解决全球能源危机和环境问题。在过去几年中，碳基纳米复合材料，尤其是石墨烯和石墨相氮化碳，作为该领域中令人感兴趣的材料已备受关注。由于其独特的化学和物理性质，碳基纳米复合材料在基于光的水分解和污染物去除以产生清洁、可再生且可行的能源形式方面做出了重大贡献。这篇综述文章全面概述了使用二维碳基纳米复合材料在能源生产和环境修复领域的最新研究进展。文章开篇简要介绍了该领域、用于能源生产和环境修复的光催化水分解的基本原理，接着阐述了碳基纳米复合材料的性质。然后，介绍了用于上述应用的各种基于石墨烯的纳米复合材料的发展情况，其中石墨烯发挥着不同的作用，包括电子受体/传输体、助催化剂、光催化剂和光敏剂。随后，详细讨论了不同的基于石墨相氮化碳的纳米复合材料作为能源和环境应用光催化剂的发展情况。这篇综述通过强调使用二维碳基纳米复合材料进行光催化所涉及的优势和挑战来作结。最后，还简要提及了该领域研究的未来前景。
