Emerging nanosemiconductors for photocatalytic degradation of mono-aromatic volatile organic compounds (BTEX): A pragmatic review

Climate change and environmental pollution are unequivocally real and poses an instantaneous, direct, grievous and inescapable existential menace to all terrestrial and aquatic inhabitants and thus must be continuously addressed. Among the silent but salient pollutants that causes this climate and environmental damages is mono-aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOC) known as BTEX whose usage is unavoidable across all major important industries globally. As nanosemiconductor variants of nano matrials show substantial potential for wastewater treatment owing to their long service life, better chemical reactivity, wide band gap energy, resistance to photocorrosion, superlative surface property, remarkable mechanical profile, and low cost, this review holistically discusses current trends and state-of-the-art work utilizing various nanosemiconductors for photodegradation of BTEX in aquatic environment in order to bridge knowledge gap. This review paper further detail the heterogeneous photocatalytic mechanism of nanosemiconductor photocatalysts for the degradation of BTEX pollutants which was pragmatically taking into account of .OH and .O2 radicals largely, and juxtapose photocatalytic performance of various nanosemiconductors which was revealed to be ≥70% for most photocatalysts reported, especially the popular TiO2 with admirable visible light absorption capacity. This review also underscore future prospects exploiting the feasible uses of nanosemiconductor, and identifies the frontiers, dilemmas and challenges to be overcome for the pragmatic implementation of nanocatalysts for monoaromatic VOC wastewater treatment. This review can spark fresh thoughts and offer useful insights into the designing of improved nanosemenconductor as a nanocatalyst for more efficacious photodegradation practical applications in marine pollution management especially.