Selective prepared carbon nanomaterials for advanced photocatalytic application in environmental pollutant treatment and hydrogen production

Highly-efficient materials and technologies for environmental pollutant treatment and hydrogen production are urgently needed in green 21' century. Notably, photocatalytic process over carbon nanomaterials (CNMs)-modified photocatalysts is an effective solution for these crises. CNMs (e.g., fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon nanofibers, and carbon quantum dots) reveal remarkable morphological, mechanical, electrical and optical properties, which have been of significantly scientific and technological interest in photocatalysis. Until now, many efforts have been made to take advantage of these unique size-and surface-dependent properties of CNMs for photocatalytic process. In this review, we firstly summarize selective preparation of CNMs that has a great impact on their photocatalytic performance. Then we provide an updated outline of advanced photocatalytic application of CNMs in addressing both environmental pollution and hydrogen energy crisis. The difference in the role of various CNMs play in the enhancement of photocatalytic performance is also discussed. Lastly, we discuss the limitations of CNMs applied in photocatalysis or even wider fields. We hope this review will project a fast developmental path with providing a wide view of recent preparation methods, applications, prospects and challenges.