Synthesis, characterization, and application of delafossites as catalysts for degrading organic pollutants and degradation mechanisms: A detailed insight

Heavy industrialization and urbanization have adversely impacted water quality in the current global landscape, posing a threat to human health as well as the general flora and fauna. The traditional techniques only removed a fraction of contaminants owing to their potential downsides, the scientific community has been diligently working on various physical, chemical, and biological methods for wastewater treatment, with photocatalysis garnering maximum attention due to its multitude of competitive advantages. This article provides a systematic summary of recent developments in the application of a novel photocatalyst termed delafossite to remove organic pollutants as a green solution in wastewater treatment research. A thorough review of the commonly utilized synthesis routes for delafossites (hydrothermal, sol-gel, chemical vapour deposition, green synthesis routes, microwave assisted hydrothermal) and their basic characterization techniques has been described that will provide a comprehensive idea regarding these crystals. These materials are easy to prepare, non-toxic, have narrow band gap, favourable surface area, cost-effective, chemically, and thermally stable, and have shown excellent photocatalytic activity on organic pollutants due to the enhanced generation of various reactive oxygen species. A thorough effort has been made to provide the degradation mechanisms that has been reported till now concerning the delafossites. Finally, the article concludes by accentuating the potentiality of the delafossites and by addressing the existing challenges based on synthesis and application of such delafossites and their composites that give the opportunity for future study to become an upcoming material of the future in this promising field of research with a clear aim towards sustainable development.