Research progress in graphene based photocatalytic materials and applications in environmental purification

As a novel 2D carbon material featuring high electrical conductivity, large specific surface area and remarkable chemical stability, graphene has shown its promising potentials in the field of photocatalytic technology. The recent research progress in graphene along with its composites as photocatalysts for environmental purification was reviewed. The photocatalytic mechanism and the exceptional properties of graphene were briefly introduced, and the fundamental roles of graphene played in the photocatalytic composites were well summarized, including facilitating the transport of photogenerated electrons, amplifying the intensity and expanding the range of light adsorption, and enhancing absorption capacity. A variety of graphene-based photocatalytic composites (graphene/inorganic semiconductors, graphene/organic semiconductors and graphene/metal nanoparticles) as well as their synthesizing routes was grouped by categories and reviewed respectively. The applications of graphene-based photocatalytic materials in the field of environmental purification were introduced systematically, which were mainly focused on the air purification, water decontamination of trace pollutants and wastewater treatment. Finally, it was pointed out that the graphene-based photocatalytic materials still have some problems, such as low catalytic efficiency, high cost, difficulty in realizing large-scale production and so on. The optimization of their structure, preparation technology and other parameters is expected to improve the materials properties and enhance their practical application value.