ABSTRACT
Photocatalysis is a green process which offers a sustainable solution to many problems. It can be employed for degradation of organic pollutants from contaminated water, hydrogen evolution to solve the energy crisis, CO2 reduction, antimicrobial activity etc. Nano-photocatalysts have promising characteristics such as high surface area, tunable bandgap, and high absorption of irradiated light. In this chapter, we discuss the history, background theory, and working mechanism of photocatalysis followed by the factors affecting the photocatalytic efficiency and their limitations. A brief literature review about semiconductor metal oxides such as TiO2, ZnO, CuO, and WO3 is also given to highlight the latest innovations in the field of photocatalysis for various applications.
