The effect of ZnO-based carbonaceous materials for degradation of benzoic pollutants: a review

The presence of dyes and benzoic derivatives in wastewater and water resources is one of the issues gaining global attention. Persistence, toxicity, and carcinogenic potential of these compounds create a severe impact on aquatics and human beings which make its removal essential before discharging into the environment. Photocatalytic processes driven by ZnO nanostructure semiconductors have great potential for water decontamination because of low cost, environmentally friendly, and complete mineralization of pollutants. Despite its high efficiency under ultraviolet light, zinc oxide with a 3.37 eV of band gap has a limited application under irradiation of visible light. Furthermore, the process time of photocatalytic activity was decreased by fast recombination of pairs of electron–hole. Therefore, to overcome this problem, the composition of carbonaceous materials doped with ZnO in the form of binary or tertiary nanocomposite has been studied. Due to their unique properties, carbonaceous materials have been chosen as a way to synthesize a high-efficiency semiconductor photocatalyst. Our review article considers on the new development of ZnO-doped carbonaceous material for the degradation of dyes and benzoic compounds. Graphical abstract