Sonication-induced pathways in the synthesis of light-active catalysts for photocatalytic oxidation of organic contaminants

Abstract

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is becoming increasingly important due to the variety of its applications and multidisciplinary aspects. Applications such as water/air detoxification-disinfection, solar-energy storage, high-value-chemical production, optoelectronics, and sensors are some of the most promising. In recent years, the development of environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient procedures for material synthesis that could substitute the old ones has been on demand. Unconventional and soft techniques, such as sonication, offer enormous possibilities for the synthesis of a broad spectrum of nanostructured materials, among them photocatalysts. This Review will focus the readers' attention on ultrasound-induced methodologies used for the preparation of nanostructured photocatalysts (e.g., supported nanoparticles, semiconductors) and their application in the photocatalytic oxidation of organic contaminants.

Keywords: green chemistry; photocatalysis; synthesis methods; titania; ultrasound.