Emerging photocatalysts for air purification

The large energy consumption with the increasing human population and industrialization caused adverse effects on the environment as well as air pollution, water pollution, and soil pollution. Among those, air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), Carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) not only severely affect human health but also significantly changed the global climate which ultimately resulted in many disasters worldwide. Thus, purification of air pollution is one of the most urgent issues for human beings to deal with. Due to their tunable bandgap and excellent stability, photocatalysts have shown many advantages towards the oxidation treatments of pollutants for the purification of air. In this letter, we discuss the most recent developments in emerging photocatalysts including transition metal oxides, transition metal sulfides, quantum dots and MXenes for the purification of air pollution. In addition, the insight into the performance of these emerging photocatalysts for the photocatalytic oxidation of air pollutants are provided. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The growing human population and industrialization contribute to large energy consumption, leading to environmental issues. Air pollution has severe effects on health and global climate, making air purification a pressing issue to address.