Recent Advancements in Photocatalytic Nanocomposites

Photocatalysts utilize light energy or photons to catalyze a reaction. The most significant characteristics of a photocatalyst lies in its ability to simultaneously oxidize a donor molecule and reduce an acceptor through the electron-hole pair generated upon excitation. With the emergence of nanotechnology, the utilization of nanomaterials for their photocatalytic properties has gained a new pace. TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles are exploited widely for their photocatalytic properties. The recent trends concentrate on devising composite nanostructures that utilize both the properties of the photocatalyst and supporting materials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, or noble metal nanoparticles to enhance the photocatalytic properties of the semiconductor metal oxide. The main areas of application of such structures lie in the field of water purification and energy harvesting. This chapter outlines an overview of the photocatalytic process and the existing technologies followed by the application areas and the recent advancements lying in that area.

Semiconductor Metal Oxide Nanoparticles: A Review for the Potential of H2S Gas Sensor Application

In modern world, gas sensors play important role in many fields of technology used for air pollution, breath analysis, public safety and many others. Gas sensor based semiconductor metal oxide is mostly used in these applications because of low cost, ease-to-use, high sensitivity and lower power consumption. This paper gives an overview about the semiconductor metal oxide and reviews why using it as sensing of gases in electrical applications and then it addresses to the work mechanism of a sensor to sensing H2S gas.