Recent updates in modification strategies for escalated performance of Graphene/MFe2O4 heterostructured photocatalysts towards energy and environmental applications

Semiconductor-mediated photocatalysis has emerged as a sustainable technique to mitigate energy crises and environmental issues by harnessing renewable solar energy. Graphene/ MFe2O4 (GSF) heterojunctions have emanated as a front runner among the visible light-responsive photocatalysts as these combine the advantages of both spinel ferrites (MFe2O4) and graphene (G). Therefore, this system has been studied extensively for energy generation and environmental remediation under visible light irradiation. This re-view summarizes several advantageous features and modification strategies of GSF heterostructured photocatalysts in three different sections after introducing the importance of visible light photocatalysis, MFe2O4 (SF) and G. Various advantages of GSF such as robust heterojunction formation, environmental benignness, improved textural properties, unique electron transport ability, facile magnetic separation ef-ficiency and extended light absorption capability are highlighted at first. Secondly, modification techniques such as heteroatom doping and ternary composite formation have been illustrated systematically. Heteroatom doping is beneficial for decreasing the band gap energies by introducing sub-energy levels in the GSF band structure whereas ternary heterojunction construction by noble metal modification accel-erates reaction kinetics and light response. GSF/semiconductor (GSF/SC) heterostructures accelerate the charge dynamics with enhanced redox ability through solid state Z-Scheme charge transfer route. Various design strategies like solvo/hydrothermal, co-precipitation, sol-gel, ball milling, etc. were briefly described with a special focus on modulation of the crystallinity, surface morphology, dimensionality and textural properties of GSF. Finally, the shortcomings in the present research as well as future research trends are addressed along with concluding remarks. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.