Water is an essential solvent that is extremely necessary for the survival of life. Water pollution due to the increased utilization of water for various processes, including domestic and industrial activities, poses a special threat that contaminates both surface and ground water. In recent years, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been applied to deal with wastewater problems, which is a green method used to oxidize organic contaminants with strong oxidative radical species. Among the AOPs, photocatalytic technology is one of the most promising strategies for wastewater cleaning, which fulfills the aims of environmentally friendly and sustainable development. Owing to their unique electronic, optical, and structural properties, nanoscale semiconductors have received substantial interest as materials for AOPs, particularly inspired by their superb quantum confinement effects and large surface-area-to-volume ratio, which are essential for catalytic reaction kinetics. Recent advancements have revealed that semiconductor nanocrystals, known as quantum dots (QDs), are newly emerging zero-dimensional (0-D) nanomaterials, which have garnered much attention owing to their special physiochemical characteristics such as high conductivity, thermo-chemical and opto-mechanical stability, high adsorption coefficients, and, most importantly, their admirable recyclability. In this review, we provide a clear understanding of the importance of semiconductor QD-based nanocomposites in the degradation of organic pollutants, in addition to the mechanism involved in the reaction process. Following this, the enhancement of different materials, such as metal oxides and metal sulfide QD-based nanocomposites, is discussed in the context of combating environmental pollution.
Keywords: Environmental pollution; Green nanotechnology; Nanocomposites; Photocatalysis; Quantum dots.
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.