Meeting the growing global energy demand is one of the important challenges of the 21st century. Currently over 80% of the world's energy requirements are supplied by the combustion of fossil fuels, which promotes global warming and has deleterious effects on our environment. Moreover, fossil fuels are non-renewable energy and will eventually be exhausted due to the high consumption rate. A new type of alternative energy that is clean, renewable and inexpensive is urgently needed. Several candidates are currently available such as hydraulic power, wind force and nuclear power. Solar energy is particularly attractive because it is essentially clean and inexhaustible. A year's worth of sunlight would provide more than 100 times the energy of the world's entire known fossil fuel reserves. Photocatalysis and photovoltaics are two of the most important routes for the utilization of solar energy. However, environmental protection is also critical to realize a sustainable future, and water pollution is a serious problem of current society. Photocatalysis is also an essential route for the degradation of organic dyes in wastewater. A type of compound with the defined structure of perovskite (ABX3) was observed to play important roles in photocatalysis and photovoltaics. These materials can be used as photocatalysts for water splitting reaction for hydrogen production and photo-degradation of organic dyes in wastewater as well as for photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells and light absorbers in perovskite-based solar cells for electricity generation. In this review paper, the recent progress of perovskites for applications in these fields is comprehensively summarized. A description of the basic principles of the water splitting reaction, photo-degradation of organic dyes and solar cells as well as the requirements for efficient photocatalysts is first provided. Then, emphasis is placed on the designation and strategies for perovskite catalysts to improve their photocatalytic activity and/or light adsorption capability. Comments on current and future challenges are also provided. The main purpose of this review paper is to provide a current summary of recent progress in perovskite materials for use in these important areas and to provide some useful guidelines for future development in these hot research areas.

Research progress of perovskite materials in photocatalysis- and photovoltaics-related energy conversion and environmental treatment.

Heterogeneous Fenton reactions have gained widespread attention in removing recalcitrant organic contaminants as the reaction between solid Fenton catalysts and H2O2 can generate highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (HO[rad]). However, several drawbacks, such as the low-speed generation of Fe(II), high consumption of H2O2, and acidic reaction conditions (generally at ˜ pH 3), are always the core issues that hamper the large-scale application of heterogeneous Fenton reactions in environmental remediation. Thus, a large number of studies have been devoted to tackling these drawbacks, and this paper intends to comprehensively review the developed strategies for enhancing heterogeneous Fenton reactivity, mainly over the last decade. Based on a comprehensive survey of previous studies, we categorize these strategies according to their reaction mechanisms. For example, introducing additional electrons (e.g., from external electric fields, electron-rich materials, semiconductors, plasmonic materials, or doped metals) to heterogeneous Fenton catalysts can accelerate the generation of Fe(II); the in situ generation of H2O2 can be achieved by combining ultrasound, electricity, semiconductors, and iron-based catalysts in the system; and controlling the specific morphologies and exposed facets of heterogeneous Fenton catalysts can greatly promote the decomposition of H2O2. In addition, we briefly introduce some recent novel heterogeneous Fenton-like reactions that are of particular interest, including constructing dual reaction centers (i.e., the electron-poor center and the electron-rich center) and synthesizing single-atom catalysis-based heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts. Moreover, this review article analyzes and compares the merits of each strategy for enhancing heterogeneous Fenton/Fenton-like reactions. We believe this review can motivate the construction of novel and efficient heterogeneous Fenton/Fenton-like systems and help readers choose proper Fenton/Fenton-like reaction systems for industrial applications.

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Strategies for Enhancing the Heterogeneous Fenton Catalytic Reactivity: A review

Perovskite-type oxides are a class of compounds with the general formula ABO 3 . They are a very important family of materials and exhibit properties suitable for numerous applications. In this review, the preparation, characterization, and application of selected perovskite oxides such as SrTiO 3 , KTaO 3 , NaTaO 3 , KNbO 3 , and NaNbO 3 in photocatalysis are described. In addition, various strategies for enhancing their photocatalytic activities are discussed, including doping with metals and nonmetals (Cr, Ni, Mn, Pb, Bi, N, Br, S, C, and F), modification with noble metal (Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ph, Ru) nanoparticles, and doping with rare earth elements (La). Moreover, the review summarizes the influence of different morphologies and surface properties on the photoactivity of the materials.

Selected perovskite oxides: Characterization, preparation and photocatalytic properties—A review

Perovskite-based photocatalysts are of significant interest in the field of photocatalysis. To date, several perovskite material systems have been developed and their applications in visible light photocatalysis studied. This article provides a review of the visible light (λ > 400 nm) active perovskite-based photocatalyst systems. The materials systems are classified by the B site cations and their crystal structure, optical properties, electronic structure, and photocatalytic performance are reviewed in detail. Titanates, tantalates, niobates, vanadates, and ferrites form important photocatalysts which show promise in visible light-driven photoreactions. Along with simple perovskite (ABO3) structures, development of double/complex perovskites that are active under visible light is also reviewed. Various strategies employed for enhancing the photocatalytic performance have been discussed, emphasizing the specific advantages and challenges offered by perovskite-based photocatalysts. This review provides a broad overview of the perovskite photocatalysts, summarizing the current state of the work and offering useful insights for their future development.

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A review on visible light active perovskite-based photocatalysts.

The development and utilization of solar energy in environmental remediation and water splitting is being intensively studied worldwide. During the past few decades, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing non-toxic, low-cost, efficient and stable photocatalysts for water splitting and environmental remediation. To date, several hundreds of photocatalysts mainly based on metal oxides, sulfides and (oxy)nitrides with different structures and compositions have been reported. Among them, perovskite oxides and their derivatives (layered perovskite oxides) comprise a large family of semiconductor photocatalysts because of their structural simplicity and flexibility. This review specifically focuses on the general background of perovskite and its related materials, summarizes the recent development of perovskite photocatalysts and their applications in water splitting and environmental remediation, discusses the theoretical modelling and calculation of perovskite photocatalysts and presents the key challenges and perspectives on the research of perovskite photocatalysts.

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Inorganic perovskite photocatalysts for solar energy utilization

Photocatalytic hydrogen generation through water splitting on nano-crystalline LaFeO3 perovskite

Visible light induced photoreduction of water by N-doped mesoporous titania

Over 5 days, Brassica juncea removed 54% of the highly toxic insecticide phorate from the medium with the formation of phorate sulfoxide in small quantity. The loss of phorate from the medium followed first-order kinetics. The half-life of phorate disappearance from water decreased by ~4.5-fold in the presence of B. juncea. Mild phorate phytotoxicity was evident from the elevated activities of the antioxidative enzymes like glutathione-disulfide reductase, glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in the plants. Nevertheless, the ubiquitous antioxidative peroxidase was not significantly increased, nor the total glutathione content, due to phorate exposure. Phosphotriester bond hydrolysis and glutathione S-transferase-mediated conjugation seemed to be the key reactions for phorate metabolism by B. juncea. From the limited information available, for the first time, a tentative mapping of phytotransformation pathways was performed.

Priyanka S. Padole

Papers

Photocatalytic hydrogen generation through water splitting on nano-crystalline LaFeO3 perovskite

Visible light induced photoreduction of water by N-doped mesoporous titania

Phytotransformation of Phorate by Brassica juncea (Indian Mustard)