Combustion Synthesis of Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic and Photovoltaic Applications

The major problems the world is facing today are related to energy production and environmental pollution. Increasing oil prices, environmental pollution and energy demand stimulated vigorous research on the development of alternative energy sources. Utilization of solar energy by photocatalytic route may facilitate the removal of pollutants, whereas photocatalytic/(photovoltaic) fuel/(energy) generation may meet the energy demand. The concerns due to the depletion of fossil fuels and environmental problems fostered the research on development of clean energy sources. In this context, hydrogen has the potential to surpass the fossil fuels. From long time, water has been advocated as the choice of compound for hydrogen production. Even though photocatalytic water splitting by either ultraviolet or solar irradiation has been extensively studied, still the efficiency of this process is not satisfactory. Another potential application of photocatalysis is the pollutant degradation, which was carried out both under homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions. Solid semiconductors offer additional advantages like less expensive, robust and can be easily recovered and reused. Even though various attempts have been reported to synthesize a series of semiconductors, there exists a need to revisit the synthetic strategies to design tailor made photocatalysts