TY - JOUR
T1 - Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic performance of zno–graphene nanocomposites
T2 - A review
AU - Albiter, Elim
AU - Merlano, Aura S.
AU - Rojas, Elizabeth
AU - Barrera-Andrade, José M.
AU - Salazar, Ángel
AU - Valenzuela, Miguel A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - ZnO is an exciting material for photocatalysis applications due to its high activity, easy accessibility of raw materials, low production costs, and nontoxic. Several ZnO nano and microstruc-tures can be obtained, such as nanoparticles, nanorods, micro flowers, microspheres, among others, depending on the preparation method and conditions. ZnO is a wide bandgap semiconductor present-ing massive recombination of the generated charge carriers, limiting its photocatalytic efficiency and stability. It is common to mix it with metal, metal oxide, sulfides, polymers, and nanocarbon-based materials to improve its photocatalytic behavior. Therefore, ZnO–nanocarbon composites formation has been a viable alternative that leads to new, more active, and stable photocatalytic systems. Mainly, graphene is a well-known two-dimensional material, which could be an excellent candidate to hy-bridize with ZnO due to its excellent physical and chemical properties (e.g., high specific surface area, optical transmittance, and thermal conductivity, among others). This review analyses ZnO–graphene nanocomposites’ recent advances, addressing the synthesis methods and the resulting structural, mor-phological, optical, and electronic properties. Moreover, we examine the ZnO–graphene composites’ role in the photocatalytic degradation of organic/inorganic pollutants.
AB - ZnO is an exciting material for photocatalysis applications due to its high activity, easy accessibility of raw materials, low production costs, and nontoxic. Several ZnO nano and microstruc-tures can be obtained, such as nanoparticles, nanorods, micro flowers, microspheres, among others, depending on the preparation method and conditions. ZnO is a wide bandgap semiconductor present-ing massive recombination of the generated charge carriers, limiting its photocatalytic efficiency and stability. It is common to mix it with metal, metal oxide, sulfides, polymers, and nanocarbon-based materials to improve its photocatalytic behavior. Therefore, ZnO–nanocarbon composites formation has been a viable alternative that leads to new, more active, and stable photocatalytic systems. Mainly, graphene is a well-known two-dimensional material, which could be an excellent candidate to hy-bridize with ZnO due to its excellent physical and chemical properties (e.g., high specific surface area, optical transmittance, and thermal conductivity, among others). This review analyses ZnO–graphene nanocomposites’ recent advances, addressing the synthesis methods and the resulting structural, mor-phological, optical, and electronic properties. Moreover, we examine the ZnO–graphene composites’ role in the photocatalytic degradation of organic/inorganic pollutants.
KW - Composites
KW - Graphene
KW - Photocatalysis
KW - Pollutant degradation
KW - ZnO
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104556634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/jcs5010004
DO - 10.3390/jcs5010004
M3 - Artículo de revisión
AN - SCOPUS:85104556634
SN - 2504-477X
VL - 5
JO - Journal of Composites Science
JF - Journal of Composites Science
IS - 1
M1 - 4
ER -