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<p>Rapid growth in sustainable environmental technologies has the need for inorganic semiconductors synthesized through green, low-hazard routes that reduce chemical toxicity and energy consumption while maintaining high functional performance. This review provides a critical and quantitative assessment of bio-derived semiconductor nanomaterials applied in photocatalytic water treatment, solar energy conversion, low-temperature semiconductor-ionic fuel cells (SIFCs), and environmental sensing (air, soil). By synthesizing recant evidence on TiO₂, ZnO, Fe-oxides and emerging perovskite/chalcogenide systems produced via plant, microbial and algal extracts, highlighting how biogenic routes can yields compatitive photocatalytic rate constants (10<sup>− 3</sup>-10<sup>− 1</sup> min<sup>− 1</sup>), improved recyclability (≥ 5–10 cycles), and enhenced sensor response/recovery times relative to conventionally synthesized analogues. Mechanistic insights are consolidated to link precursor biochemistry-polyphenols, flavonoids, proteins, and polysaccharides, to defect engineering, surface passivation, charges-carrier dynamics and heterostructure formation. To address concerns raised across recent studies, the review evaluates repoducibility, precursor variability, impurity incorporation and crystallinity control, and integrates sustainability metrics including energy input, atom economy, waste generation, and available life-cycle impact data. We also identify emerging direction: (i) green-derived electrolytes and heterostructured SIFC components enabling high inonic conductivity and power densities at 350–550&#xa0;°C and (ii) incorporation of AI/ML, IoT and adaptive sensor networks to optimize synthesis and enable real-time monitoring. Critical deployment barriers scalable manufacturing, standardized ecotoxicity testing, long-term operational stability, and regulatory readiness, are systematically discussed. Finally, we propose a forward roadmap for centered on standardizing bio-precursor characterization, implementing continuous/automated production platforms, building open databases for kinetic and toxicity data, and coupling AI-guided materials design with comprehensive lifetime and environmental assessments. By unifying green synthesis with advanced device architectures and digital process control, the field can accelerate the translation of sustainable semiconductors toward robust environmental and energy applications.</p>

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Environmental and energy applications of green-synthesized semiconductor nanomaterials: from photocatalysis to smart sensors

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月6日

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  • Nguyen Hoc Thang,
  • Nguyen Cao Hien

摘要

Rapid growth in sustainable environmental technologies has the need for inorganic semiconductors synthesized through green, low-hazard routes that reduce chemical toxicity and energy consumption while maintaining high functional performance. This review provides a critical and quantitative assessment of bio-derived semiconductor nanomaterials applied in photocatalytic water treatment, solar energy conversion, low-temperature semiconductor-ionic fuel cells (SIFCs), and environmental sensing (air, soil). By synthesizing recant evidence on TiO₂, ZnO, Fe-oxides and emerging perovskite/chalcogenide systems produced via plant, microbial and algal extracts, highlighting how biogenic routes can yields compatitive photocatalytic rate constants (10− 3-10− 1 min− 1), improved recyclability (≥ 5–10 cycles), and enhenced sensor response/recovery times relative to conventionally synthesized analogues. Mechanistic insights are consolidated to link precursor biochemistry-polyphenols, flavonoids, proteins, and polysaccharides, to defect engineering, surface passivation, charges-carrier dynamics and heterostructure formation. To address concerns raised across recent studies, the review evaluates repoducibility, precursor variability, impurity incorporation and crystallinity control, and integrates sustainability metrics including energy input, atom economy, waste generation, and available life-cycle impact data. We also identify emerging direction: (i) green-derived electrolytes and heterostructured SIFC components enabling high inonic conductivity and power densities at 350–550 °C and (ii) incorporation of AI/ML, IoT and adaptive sensor networks to optimize synthesis and enable real-time monitoring. Critical deployment barriers scalable manufacturing, standardized ecotoxicity testing, long-term operational stability, and regulatory readiness, are systematically discussed. Finally, we propose a forward roadmap for centered on standardizing bio-precursor characterization, implementing continuous/automated production platforms, building open databases for kinetic and toxicity data, and coupling AI-guided materials design with comprehensive lifetime and environmental assessments. By unifying green synthesis with advanced device architectures and digital process control, the field can accelerate the translation of sustainable semiconductors toward robust environmental and energy applications.