Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington
Browse

Photocatalytic nanocomposite materials based on inorganic polymers (Geopolymers): A review

Download (4.59 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2021-03-25, 01:47 authored by M Falah, Kenneth MacKenzieKenneth MacKenzie
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Geopolymers are ecologically-friendly inorganic materials which can be produced at low temperatures from industrial wastes such as fly ash, blast furnace slags or mining residues. Although to date their principal applications have been seen as alternatives to Portland cement building materials, their properties make them suitable for a number of more advanced applications, including as photocatalytic nanocomposites for removal of hazardous pollutants from waste water or the atmosphere. For this purpose, they can be combined with photocatalytic moieties such as metal oxides with suitable bandgaps to couple with UV or visible radiation, or with carbon nanotubes or graphene. In these composites the geopolymers act as supports for the photoactive components, but geopolymers formed from wastes containing oxides such as Fe2O3 show intrinsic photoactive behaviour. This review discusses the structure and formation chemistry of geopolymers and the principles required for their utilisation as photocatalysts. The literature on existing photocatalytic geopolymers is reviewed, suggesting that these materials have a promising potential as inexpensive, efficient and ecologically-friendly candidates for the remediation of toxic environmental pollutants and would repay further development.

History

Preferred citation

Falah, M. & Mackenzie, K. J. D. (2020). Photocatalytic nanocomposite materials based on inorganic polymers (Geopolymers): A review. Catalysts, 10(10), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10101158

Journal title

Catalysts

Volume

10

Issue

10

Publication date

2020-10-01

Pagination

1-20

Publisher

MDPI AG

Publication status

Published

Online publication date

2020-10-09

ISSN

2073-4344

eISSN

2073-4344

Article number

ARTN 1158

Language

en

Usage metrics

    Journal articles

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC