Current trends on dry photocatalytic oxidation technology for BTX removal: Viable light sources and highly efficient photocatalysts.

One of the main gaseous pollutants released by chemical production industries are benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX). These dangerous gases require immediate technology to combat them, as they put the health of living organisms at risk. The development of heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation technology offers several viewpoints, particularly in gaseous-phase decontamination without an additional supply of oxidants in air at atmospheric pressure.

Boosting photocatalytic CO conversion using strongly bonded Cu/reduced NbO nanosheets.

Green energy production is becoming increasingly important in mitigating the effects of climate change, and the photocatalytic approach could be a potential solution. However, the main barriers to its commercialization are ineffective catalysis due to recombination, poor optical absorption, and sluggish carrier migration. Here, we fabricated a two-dimensional (2D) reduced niobium oxide photocatalyst synthesized by an thermal method followed by copper incorporation.