Cantarella Maria, Impellizzeri Giuliana, Di Mauro Alessandro, Privitera Vittorio, Carroccio Sabrina Carola
CNR-IMM, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy.
CNR-IMM, Z.I. VIII Strada 5, 95121 Catania, Italy.
Polymers (Basel). 2021 Apr 7;13(8):1184. doi: 10.3390/polym13081184.
The immobilization of inorganic nanomaterials on polymeric substrates has been drawing a lot of attention in recent years owing to the extraordinary properties of the as-obtained materials. The hybrid materials, indeed, combine the benefits of the plastic matter such as flexibility, low-cost, mechanical stability and high durability, with them deriving from their inorganic counterparts. In particular, if the inorganic fillers are nanostructured photocatalysts, the originated hybrid systems will be able to utilize the energy delivered by light, catalysing chemical reactions in a sustainable pathway. Most importantly, since the nanofillers can be ad-hoc anchored to the macromolecular structure, their release in the environment will be prevented, thus overcoming one of the main restrictions that impedes their applications on a large scale. In this review, several typologies of hybrid photocatalytic nanomaterials, obtained by using both organic and inorganic semiconductors and realized with different synthetic protocols, were reported and discussed. In the first part of the manuscript, nanocomposites realized by simply blending the TiO or ZnO nanomaterials in thermoplastic polymeric matrices are illustrated. Subsequently, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique is presented as an excellent method to formulate polymeric nanocomposites. Successively, some examples of polyporphyrins hybrid systems containing graphene, acting as photocatalysts under visible light irradiation, are discussed. Lastly, photocatalytic polymeric nanosponges, with extraordinary adsorption properties, are shown. All the described materials were deeply characterized and their photocatalytic abilities were evaluated by the degradation of several organic water pollutants such as dyes, phenol, pesticides, drugs, and personal care products. The antibacterial performance was also evaluated for selected systems. The relevance of the obtained results is widely overviewed, opening the route for the application of such multifunctional photocatalytic hybrid materials in wastewater remediation.
近年来，由于所制备材料具有非凡的性能，无机纳米材料在聚合物基底上的固定化受到了广泛关注。实际上，这些杂化材料结合了塑料物质的优点，如柔韧性、低成本、机械稳定性和高耐久性，同时又具备无机对应物的特性。特别是，如果无机填料是纳米结构的光催化剂，那么由此产生的杂化体系将能够利用光提供的能量，以可持续的方式催化化学反应。最重要的是，由于纳米填料可以专门锚定在大分子结构上，从而可以防止它们释放到环境中，进而克服了阻碍其大规模应用的主要限制之一。在这篇综述中，报道并讨论了几种通过使用有机和无机半导体并采用不同合成方案获得的杂化光催化纳米材料类型。在本文的第一部分，阐述了通过简单地将TiO或ZnO纳米材料与热塑性聚合物基体混合而制备的纳米复合材料。随后，介绍了原子层沉积（ALD）技术，它是一种制备聚合物纳米复合材料的优秀方法。接着，讨论了一些含石墨烯的聚卟啉杂化体系在可见光照射下作为光催化剂的例子。最后，展示了具有非凡吸附性能的光催化聚合物纳米海绵。所有描述的材料都进行了深入表征，并通过降解几种有机水污染物，如染料、苯酚、农药、药物和个人护理产品，来评估它们的光催化能力。还对选定的体系评估了抗菌性能。广泛概述了所得结果的相关性，为这类多功能光催化杂化材料在废水处理中的应用开辟了道路。
