Geldasa Fikadu Takele, Kebede Mesfin Abayneh, Shura Megersa Wodajo, Hone Fekadu Gashaw
Adama Science and Technology University, Department of Applied Physics P. O. Box1888 Adama Ethiopia.
Oda Bultum University, Department of Physics P. O. Box 226, Chiro Ethiopia.
RSC Adv. 2023 Jun 19;13(27):18404-18442. doi: 10.1039/d3ra01505j. eCollection 2023 Jun 15.
Photocatalysis is a more proficient technique that involves the breakdown or decomposition of different organic contaminants, various dyes, and harmful viruses and fungi using UV or visible light solar spectrum. Metal oxides are considered promising candidate photocatalysts owing to their low cost, efficiency, simple fabricating method, sufficient availability, and environment-friendliness for photocatalytic applications. Among metal oxides, TiO is the most studied photocatalyst and is highly applied in wastewater treatment and hydrogen production. However, TiO is relatively active only under ultraviolet light due to its wide bandgap, which limits its applicability because the production of ultraviolet is expensive. At present, the discovery of a photocatalyst of suitable bandgap with visible light or modification of the existing photocatalyst is becoming very attractive for photocatalysis technology. However, the major drawbacks of photocatalysts are the high recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, the ultraviolet light activity limitations, and low surface coverage. In this review, the most commonly used synthesis method for metal oxide nanoparticles, photocatalytic applications of metal oxides, and applications and toxicity of different dyes are comprehensively highlighted. In addition, the challenges in the photocatalytic applications of metal oxides, strategies to suppress these challenges, and metal oxide studied by density functional theory for photocatalytic applications are described in detail.
光催化是一种更为高效的技术，它利用紫外线或可见太阳光光谱来分解或降解不同的有机污染物、各种染料以及有害病毒和真菌。金属氧化物因其成本低、效率高、制备方法简单、来源充足且对光催化应用具有环境友好性，被认为是很有前景的光催化候选材料。在金属氧化物中，TiO是研究最多的光催化剂，在废水处理和制氢方面有广泛应用。然而，由于TiO的宽带隙，它仅在紫外光下具有相对较高的活性，这限制了其应用，因为紫外线的产生成本高昂。目前，发现具有合适带隙的可见光光催化剂或对现有光催化剂进行改性，对光催化技术来说变得极具吸引力。然而，光催化剂的主要缺点是光生电子 - 空穴对的复合率高、紫外线光活性受限以及表面覆盖率低。在本综述中，全面突出了金属氧化物纳米颗粒最常用的合成方法、金属氧化物的光催化应用以及不同染料的应用和毒性。此外，还详细描述了金属氧化物光催化应用中的挑战、抑制这些挑战的策略以及通过密度泛函理论研究的用于光催化应用的金属氧化物。
