Application of Metal/Metal Oxide Doped Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes in Sustainable Catalysis

Abstract

The unsustainability of the production of catalysts due to limited resources and higher energy demands makes it critical to explore and reengineer new catalytic materials for future applications. Woefully, the unrelenting demand for the metals/metal oxides increases both the financial and environmental cost, particularly in mining and synthesis, rendering consumption unsustainable in its current form. In this context, electrospinning offers a new template for designing sustainable ways of minimizing the higher loading of catalysts and recyclability. In this context, metals/metal oxide doped electrospun membranes have grasped a great scientific interest as sustainable catalysts due to their enhanced catalytic activity and synergistic structure-property relationship of the doped material and the matrix. More specifically, the selectivity arising from the electronic properties and quantum mechanical interactions at the nanoscale of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles coupled with interactions at the electrospun membrane interfaces lead to such enhanced properties. This review article summarizes the applications of metals/metal doped electrospun membranes in different aspects of catalysis, such as thermocatalysis, photocatalysis, organocatalysis and electrocatalysis, with a particular focus on their sustainability.

Keywords: Sustainable catalysis, metal/metal oxide doped catalysts, electrospinning, organocatalysis, photocatalysis