Daylight Photoactive TiO2 Sol-Gel Nanoparticles: Sustainable Environmental Contribution

Daniel Alves Barcelos; Maria Clara Gonçalves

doi:10.3390/ma16072731

Daylight Photoactive TiO₂ Sol-Gel Nanoparticles: Sustainable Environmental Contribution

Materials (Basel). 2023 Mar 29;16(7):2731. doi: 10.3390/ma16072731.

Authors

Daniel Alves Barcelos^{1

2

3}, Maria Clara Gonçalves^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Engenharia Química, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
² Centro de Química Estrutural, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
³ Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal.

Abstract

Visible-light-photoactive titania micro- or nanoparticles excel in a wide range of industrial areas, particularly in environmental remediation. The sol-gel methodology is one pivotal technique which has been successfully used to synthesize either crystalline and amorphous TiO₂ micro- and nanoparticles due to its outstanding chemical simplicity and versatility, along with the green chemistry approach. This short review aims to collect and discuss the most recent developments in visible-light-photoactive titania-based nanoparticles in the environmental remediation area. Titania co-doping, titania composite design, and, recently, amorphous networks have been the most used strategies to address this goal. Finally, a prediction regarding the future of these fields is given.

Keywords: amorphous titania; composite titania; doped titania; sol–gel.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

D. Barcelos gratefully acknowledges the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) ChemMat doctoral program with the PhD grant (PD/BD/150417/2019). M.C. Gonçalves and D. Barcelos gratefully acknowledge the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Portugal, grant numbers UID/Multi/04349/2013 and UID/QUI/00100/2013.