Bio-Based Carbon Nanostructure-Aided Photocatalysts for Clean Water in the Environmental System

In this chapter, the role of photocatalysis in achieving a circular bio-economy through the utilization of bioresource waste is discussed. Carbon-based nanostructures, which serve as essential component in preparing better performing photocatalysts, can be easily and abundantly obtained from food and agricultural wastes. These photocatalysts are able to degrade water contaminants and thus enable the reuse of water in agriculture and sustain the environmental ecosystem. Moreover, the energy required to drive the water purification reaction using photocatalysts can be easily obtained from solar radiation. With better design and modification techniques, such as using carbon doping and utilizing carbon nanostructures, the performance and biocompatibility can be further improved. Accordingly, this chapter presents a comprehensive study on the synthesis strategies for obtaining carbon nanostructures, their distinctive properties, and the characterization techniques to identify them, with the objective to utilize them in preparing efficient photocatalysts. Finally, different carbon-based photocatalysts that have been reported to successfully degradee various contaminants are compiled for readers to dive into the growing field of carbon-based photocatalytic degradation.