Nanoparticles in advanced oxidation processes

Photocatalysis using semiconductor nanoparticles as an advanced oxidation technique (AOT) has been a focus of research by a number of groups during the last two decades. The photocatalytic approach has been adopted successfully to develop self-cleaning glasses and air purification systems. Enhancing the photoconversion efficiency, maximizing the rate of degradation, and extending the photoresponse of the semiconductor catalyst into the visible range still pose a major challenge. Recent developments that address these issues and new approaches that expand the scope of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles in AOTs and related applications are presented in this overview. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.